Woman steals bicycle, calls cops when stolen bicycle is taken back by the owner

Palm Coast Observer
Cops Corner

June 28

What goes around

4:13 p.m. — 600 block of East Moody Boulevard, Flagler County

False police report. A Naples, Florida woman called police to report her bicycle as stolen, only for the cops to find she had stolen the bicycle in the first place.

The woman told police that she had ridden her bicycle — a pink beach cruiser — to a nearby dollar store while waiting on a friend to finish up eating lunch, according to an arrest report. She left the bicycle unsecured outside the store and returned to find it gone.

Surveillance footage from the store showed a man riding off with the bicycle. Police were searching for the suspect in a nearby neighborhood when they were notified the suspect had returned to the store.

The suspect told the officers that the bicycle was actually his and it had been stolen from him at the neighboring gas station, the report said. Surveillance footage from the gas station showed the man parking his bicycle behind the gas station and the woman stealing the bicycle.

The man chose not to file any criminal charges for the original theft. The woman was arrested for filing a false report.

June 30

Extended stay

9:33 a.m. — Flagler County

Battery. A Starke, Florida man attacked a hotel clerk when his wallet went missing but the clerk told him he’d have to wait to get the surveillance footage.

The suspect was packing up his hotel room after a weekend stay when he told Sheriff Office deputies that he noticed his wallet was missing, according to his arrest report. He immediately went to the front desk to see if the surveillance footage showed someone entering his room.

The clerk told the suspect he couldn’t access the cameras and that the suspect would have to wait for the manager to come in the following day. Enraged by this answer, the suspect jumped the county and grabbed the clerk, the report said.

The suspect immediately let go of the clerk when he realized what he was doing and left the lobby area. Deputies arrived and arrested the suspect on a battery charge. His wallet is still missing.