SEATTLE — Seattle police said a tip on Twitter led investigators to uncover a secret showroom of stolen bicycles in downtown Seattle.
Detectives began investigating a suspicious Craigslist seller earlier this week after receiving a lead through the department’s Twitter account, @SeattlePD, that a man was selling high-end bikes at deep discounts.
When detectives discovered the seller had posted at least 10 bicycles for sale online, an undercover detective, posing as a buyer, set up a meeting.
The detective met the man about 6 p.m. Tuesday at Third Avenue and Stewart Street in downtown Seattle, where the seller showed the officer one of his bikes. When the detective told the seller the bike wasn’t quite what he was looking for and asked if he had anything else, the seller had his partner, who was waiting across the street, bring over a second bike.
The two showed the officer the second bike and then brought him to a nearby storage facility where they were storing dozens of bikes suspected to be stolen.
The detective selected a bicycle, paid the sellers $200, and went to check the bike’s serial number, which showed it had been reported stolen.
Police arrested the two men and got permission to search the storage unit, where they recovered of 27 bikes, many of them high-end, as well as about 30 expensive bike rims.
Police are working with prosecutors on the case and are still sorting through the recovered bicycles to attempt to find their owners.
KIRO
