Bicycle crime suspect charged

Yesterday I assisted other officers from Lavender Hill Police Station carrying out a fast-time operation to catch a male who was suspected of handling stolen goods.

A man contacted Police after his bicycle had been stolen this week in Battersea and he had now found it for sale on Facebook Marketplace. The ‘seller’ had asked the man to meet him in the street on Saturday. Instead of finding the person who he thought he was going to meet the ‘seller’ walked into the arms of my colleague and me. And he was carrying with him the stolen bicycle just as it had been described to us by it's owner (including with frame number). He was duly arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods and taken to the Police Station.

A search after his arrest at his home revealed, in the garden, another ebike (pictured below). This was seized and the serial number checked by me and it was found to be the same bicycle that had been reported stolen during a robbery in November 2025 in Surrey.

A twenty-year old man from Battersea has been charged with two counts of handling stolen goods and has been bailed to attend Magistrates Court in March 2026.

Because both of the owners of the bicycles had noted their bike's serial/frame numbers we are able to return them as part of our investigation. We use the National Cycle Database at www.bikeregister.com/ to register owners' bicycles and to re-unite stolen bikes with their owners.