According to a report posted on the Seattle Police Department’s SPD Blotter Thursday, a tip from a sleuthing bike theft victim led Seattle police to a large cache of stolen bicycles and a suspected chop shop Wednesday in Edmonds. Now detectives want to know if they have your bike.
SPD Major Crimes Taskforce Detective Scotty Bach began investigating the case last week, on April 7, after receiving a tip from a man who had found his own stolen bike for sale on Craigslist, the story said. According to the report:
Major Crimes detectives contacted the Craigslist seller and said they were interested in buying a bicycle. The seller met with undercover detectives, who arrested him after discovering he’d sold them a bike stolen from a transitional housing program for homeless veterans.
The seller — whom police learned had already sold off their tipster’s bike — told police he frequently sold stolen bicycles at a home in Edmonds.
Detectives went to the Edmonds home, in the 21000 block of 80th Avenue West, and found a huge stash of bicycles sitting out in the yard. They checked the serial numbers on two of the bicycles, learned they were stolen, and requested a warrant to search the home.
Police seized 60 bicycles from the home, where they believe a resident was running a chop shop, breaking down and rebuilding bicycles to sell online.
SPD has posted photos of the recovered bikes here. If you believe one of them below belongs to you, email Scotty.Bach@Seattle.gov and include the number of the pictured bike. In order to claim your bike, you will need to provide proof of ownership, like a purchase receipt, case number related to the bike or photo clearly showing you with the bike.
Real first and last names — as well as city of residence — are required for all commenters.
This is so we can verify your identity before approving your comment.
By commenting here you agree to abide by our Code of Conduct. Please read our code at the bottom of this page before commenting.