Bicycle sold, recovered and returned by the same state trooper

The student was happy to have his bike returned
Photo courtesy WSDOT

Just weeks after selling his bicycle on-line a trooper recognized it as stolen property from a disabled vehicle contact. The bicycle was returned to its new owner by the very same trooper that sold it.

Just after 9:00am on April 25th, a disabled vehicle was reported blocking the right lane of eastbound NE 145th near 12th Ave NE in Shoreline. When a trooper arrived, the driver, a 34 year old Seattle man, was frantically attempting to change the tire on a black Honda Accord. As the driver dug around in the vehicle, the trooper observed the bicycle with the serial numbers ground off, a grinder and a Ruger handgun clearly visible inside the car and within reach of the driver.  Another trooper stopped at the blocking vehicle and immediately recognized the bike by scratches on the frame as one he had sold weeks earlier. The driver merely stated the bike belonged to him.

Confident it was the same bike, the trooper found the contact number for the original buyer, a college student from Capital Hill, who confirmed the bike was stolen from his house just days after he bought it. The stolen bicycle was later returned to its rightful owner.

The driver of the Honda was booked into King County Jail on a felony with a firearms charge.