Owners Reunited With Stolen Scooters, 2 Allegedly Behind Theft Ring Arrested
DENVER (CBS4) - Police in Denver say a spike in the number of scooter and motorcycle thefts in the city should ease off now that they have captured two people who they say are responsible for a number of the crimes.
On Thursday police announced the arrest of Sean Duncan, 54, and another man.
"In total this operation recovered approximately 20 stolen scooters and motorcycles," said Ryan Harris, a Denver police detective.
Harris said police believe Duncan and his accomplish would steal the motorbikes and then stash them in plain sight around the Capitol Hill neighborhood.
"They were leaving it in parking lots and parked on the street so that if it was recovered, it didn't necessarily come back to an address associated with them," Harris said.
It appears the main goal of the two was to resell the bikes, which is why many were found still intact and police were eventually able to return many of them to their owners.
Nathan Downey told CBS his motorcycle was stolen from outside his home more than a month ago. He filed a police report, but it wasn't until this week he was reunited with it.
"It was pretty wild. It was one of those things I really had given up on," he said.
"If I were them I would have done a few things ... stripped the vent and shipped it somewhere out of the country. But they put it 10 blocks away from my house where I could find it. I'm very grateful," he said.
Trina George also had her means of transportation stolen this summer. Someone cut through a lock she had around her Honda scooter and drove off with it.
"It was actually one of my most prized possessions, said George. "It was just fun to ride and I missed it a lot."
Like Downey, George got her bike back a few days ago, however ...
"It does look a little different. It did not used to be this colorful," she said.
The scooter used to be red and now it's purple and blue.
George says it runs fine, though.
Police say they are not revealing the identity of the other man who was arrested because that suspect provided them with information that uncovered other alleged crimes in Arvada. They say that suspect's name is expected to be released once those cases have been investigated.
Scooter dealers say there are several steps that can be taken to prevent scooters from being stolen.
