North Precinct Officers arrested a 50-year-old man Friday morning after he was spotted with a stolen bike, crashed a moped, and kicked in a door.
At 4 a.m. Officer John Randle was patrolling in the 3900 block of Phinney Avenue North when he spotted a man riding a moped while towing a mountain bike. Officer Randle thought this was suspicious and began following the moped. The rider then released the bike leaving it in the middle of the road while he made a quick getaway.
Officer Randle recovered the carbon fiber mountain bike and found a nameplate installed on it. He returned the bike to the owner who said his garage had been burglarized at some point in the evening. The victim also told the officer that two additional bikes had been taken at the time of the burglary.
Later in the morning, the victim was walking around the neighborhood hoping to find his stolen bikes when he happened to locate one of the bicycles at the intersection of Burke Avenue North and Northwest 43rd Street. Officer Randle returned to the scene and it just so happened the suspect was pulling up on his moped. The suspect again fled but this time with the officer close behind. The suspect at one point fell off the moped, got back to his feet and kicked in the door of a nearby building. After a brief standoff, the suspect decided to surrender to police.
As police were wrapping up their investigation, a person approached them and delivered the third bike which they promptly returned to its owner.
Officers booked the suspect into King County Jail for investigation of burglary.