On June 20, Mercer Island Police caught an alleged bike thief on the bike path in the 9000 block of North Mercer Way. The arrest was made after a phone tip from an Island resident who was at the Mercer Island Community and Event Center picking up her kids.

The witness called police to report a suspicious a man who was walking by a bike rack multiple times before walking away with two of them.

After police made contact with the suspect along the bike path, a juvenile male from the Community Center identified his bike. The police then arrested the 28-year-old Island resident who was “surprisingly, fairly cooperative,” said Detective Sergeant Jeff Magnan.

The thief admitted to having more stolen bikes at home and confessed that he pawned bikes off in Bellevue to support a drug habit.

Of the four bikes police recovered on July 20, all but one were identified. The fourth, police suspect, was stolen out of the city of Bellevue, but they have not found any record of the missing bike.

After the arrest, the suspect was processed, released and has since been cited into court.

Magnan strongly advises residents to secure bikes with a good lock and to make note of the bike’s serial number in case it needs to be identified.