With the help of Velo Bicycles, SPD caught one alleged bike thief and an alleged accomplice last month, according to Jonah at Seattle Crime. Jack Michael Kondrad has been charged with possession and trafficking of stolen property. Court records show he admitted to selling as many as 30 bikes, many stolen in and around Capitol Hill, on Craigslist. Though he says he “found” them.

From Seattle Crime:

Prosecutors have charged Jack Michael Kondrad with possession and trafficking of stolen property, and police are investigating another man—Dwight Alan Wiskerchen—in connection with at least 30 bike thefts “in and around Capitol Hill,” according to court records.

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It appears SPD’s investigation into the bike thefts came together in late August when the owner of Velo Bicycles—on 11th and Pine—called detectives and said that he had noticed a recent increase in bike thefts in the neighborhood.

Velo’s owner, Lloyd Tamura—who himself was recently the victim of bike theft—told police customers had been bringing him “information on their recently stolen bicycles,” police records say.

…

During an interview with police, Kondrad admitted he had sold 30 bikes on Craigslist in the last month, but claimed he had found the bikes “in a nearby park” where “he knew people dumped stolen bikes,” police records say.

Kondrad also identified a second man—Wiskerchen—who was allegedly involved in other bike thefts in the Capitol Hill area, near Seattle University and Seattle Central Community College.

Police learned that Wiskerchen was renting a storage unit at 12th and Howell.

When police contacted the management at the business, an employee told officers he was in the process of kicking Wiskerchen out for repeatedly working on and repairing bikes in a storage area hallway. The employee also told police that Kondrad had previously rented a storage locker in the building.

Wiskerchen had been charged with burglary earlier this month for stealing a baby carriage out of a Fremont residential parking area.

Anecdotally, bike thefts are down in the area, according to Velo owner Tamura. The Capitol Hill area has consistently been the most prevalent for bike thefts, according to our bike theft map. Looking at the map of November thefts, the number of incidents in the neighborhood do seem oddly low:

vs September:

Of course, bike thefts have been down all around, likely due more to declining ridership as the weather changes. However, there does seem to be a reasonable decrease in the concentration of thefts on Cap Hill.

Good work everyone who contributed information about the thieves. And thanks to SPD bike cops for finding him and making the arrest!