A Santa Monica resident was able to recover his stolen bicycle with the help of the Santa Monica Police Department on Friday, Feb. 14 after spotting it for sale on the website Craigslist.
A SMPD officer was assigned the case after the victim of a bicycle theft reported that he had spotted his stolen bicycle on craigslist.com.
The victim said his bicycle had been stolen the prior Monday.
In a sting-operation coordinated by SMPD officers, the victim arranged to meet the seller at the Starbucks Coffee Shop at the corner of Lincoln Boulevard and Broadway Avenue so that he could purchase the bicycle.
At a specified time and location, the seller of the bicycle arrived with the merchandise and instead of the victim being the first person he encountered, the seller met with two plain-clothes officers who agreed on a price for the bicycle.
The victim was able to identify the bicycle and at that point the plain clothed officers identified themselves and arrested this 24-year-old Los Angeles resident and charged him with possession of stolen property.
The officers subsequently searched the suspect’s residence and discovered two other suspected stolen bicycles.
If you have had stolen a white, Norco, City Glide, frame #AA20516420 or a blue Biria Easy Boarding bicycle, frame #YOF270180, contact the Santa Monica Police at 310.458.8440.
Editor’s Note: These reports are part of a regular police coverage series entitled “Alert Police Blotter” (APB), which injects some minor editorial into certain police activities in Santa Monica. Not all of The Mirror’s coverage of incidents involving police are portrayed in this manner. More serious crimes and police-related activities are regularly reported without editorial in the pages of the Santa Monica Mirror and its website, smmirror.com.
