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Woman Able To Retrieve Stolen Bike Found On Craigslist

BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4) - A Boulder woman found her stolen bike for sale online and now has the bike back after coming face to face with the thief.

It's a case where a victim became her own detective and it panned out. She told police she locked her bike to a rack in Boulder. When she came back it was gone.

According to an arrest affidavit, a few days later the victim spotted a bike that looked like the one she owned on Craigslist. The indicator was red tape on the handle bars and a rear fender place for a light.

The ad on Craigslist was out of Westminster and went to meet with the suspect, identified as Denzel Crawford, 18. They met near his apartment and she asked to take the bike for a test ride, but instead put it in her car and then called police.

Denzel Crawford
Denzel Crawford (Boulder Police Department)

"Social media can be helpful in those cases, but really it's best to contact the police department and get them involved upfront," Kim Kobel with Boulder police said. "In this case things turned out well and she got her bike back safely, but you don't know who you're dealing with all the time. You are essentially going to a stranger's home."

Crawford now faces theft charges. He did fill out a voluntary statement saying he saw an unlocked bike on the rack and put it in his car.

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