Bike Thief Sells Bikes Before Stealing Them

Photo via Flickr user Lorena Cupcake

What is probably the most forward-thinking bike theft investigators have seen has been discovered by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. The thief—who, at this point, still doesn't appear to have been apprehended—lists bikes for auction and ensures he has a buyer before he steals them.

Nine bikes, with a total value of around 2.2 million yen (which is roughly just over $22,000), were stolen from Hiroshi Tamura, editor-in-chief of a Tokyo bicycling magazine. At midnight on June 17, his wife called police after she noticed someone hanging around outside the house. When police arrived, they discovered three bikes had been stolen from the parking area of the house. When Tamura went out the next morning, he found another six had been stolen.

Police discovered that six of Tamura's bikes, four that had been stolen and two that he'd moved into the house, had been listed for auction on June 1. Each of the listings had photos and all six bikes had been sold. 

According to road.cc, the seller has listed other bikes in the past and investigators believe they may have been stolen as well.

[Seen via Bike Portland]