Is one of these 27 bikes yours? Last call to claim them from police evidence

WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. (KDVR) — Did your bike go missing in the last few years?

Police in Wheat Ridge have recovered a couple dozen of them, and time is running out to claim them. After that, there’s a plan to put them to good use.

As part of a city of Wheat Ridge ordinance, if you believe one of the 27 bikes is yours, you have until April 16 to claim it. Claims for custody of goods must be made on or before 4 p.m. on the final release date.

All you need is an accurate description, including the model and the serial number, which you can typically find on the bottom of the pedal housing.

At first glance, the evidence shed may resemble any old shed, but the inside is filled with dozens of seized or abandoned bikes that are now ready to be claimed.

“Through the course of our investigations, we accumulate a lot of evidence, and sometimes that’s bicycles that can come from anything from a hit-and-run, or maybe a suspect is trying to get away from us,” said Alex Rose, Wheat Ridge Police Department public information officer. “We’ve been doing this for more than a dozen years, and unfortunately, we’ve only had one person come and step up and get their bike back. Obviously, we want to see more people come up and be unified with their bikes.”

27 bikes in Wheat Ridge police custody

Here is a list of the 27 bikes that are currently being stored in the evidence:

• Green Diamondback Wildwood
• Black Mongoose Bicycle
• Red Specialized Allez Bike
• Green/Black Trek 3500 Bicycle
• Black Hyper Havoc Bike
• Black & Orange Mongoose Mode bicycle
• Black Mongoose Hotshot 700C
• White Roadmaster Granite Peak bike
• Light Blue Huffy Nel Lusso Bicycle
• Light Blue Schwinn GTX2 Bike
• Red Gary Fisher Genesis Bike
• Silver & GREEN Trek 3700 Bike
• Maroon & Silver Next PowerX bike
• Teal GT Talera bike
• Teal Schwinn bicycle
• Black & Green Haro Flightline bicycle
• Teal Schwinn Al Comp bike
• Purple Roadmaster Mt Climber Bike
• Navy CO-OP REV 20 Bike
• Red Peugot Course BikeTeal Raven bike
• Blue & Silver Huffy Highlander Bike
• Light Blue Diamondback Clarity Bicycle
• Black & White Kent Ambush FS20 bike
• Black & Gray Giant Cypress bicycle
• Black/gray Schwinn Ranger bicycle
• Silver Genesis GX7 bicycle

Last year, 62 bikes were stored in the evidence shed.

“We do everything we can to make sure people’s property are back in their possession, but when we keep on striking out on that effort, this is what happens. And again, we just try to put them to the best use,” Rose said.

Unclaimed bikes refurbished, donated

So to put them to use, officers partner with local bike shops like Yawp Cyclery, where the bicycles are refurbished, returned and donated to local communities. Yamp has tuned up about 15 bikes so far.

“We know the 30 or so bikes we gave to the Optimist Club, they partnered those off and gave them to a nonprofit called Bicycles for Humanity. Those are actually on a shipping container on their way to Africa. I just think it’s fantastic we have a chance to partner and give these bikes a better home, whether it’s in Wheat Ridge or overseas, and countries and communities who can really use them,” Rose said.

Another thing that officers will do when a bike is reported stolen is check it into a state database. It means whether it’s stolen out of Fort Collins, Colorado Springs or Denver, they should be able to cross-reference that serial number.

“If, say, you don’t have the serial number but you bought it from a local bike shop, you can always go back to that bike shop and ask, hey, remember me, I bought a bike like three years ago,” Rose said. “You can ask, do you still have me on file? And maybe you can still find the serial number that way.”

If you believe one of the unclaimed bikes is yours, reach out to the Wheat Ridge Police Evidence Department at (303) 235-2928.