SANDY, Utah, Oct. 10, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — It’s live by the internet, die by the internet for thieves who fence their stolen booty online.
They may or may not know police will engage in the exhausting task of checking cyberland for stolen items “as time allots,” Sandy Police Lt. Dean Carriger said, checking the various sites like Ebay and local market exchanges, or the voluminous KSL classified ads. “Especially our younger cops, who are so savvy with the internet, Facebook and everything, which I don’t do.”
Often officers enlist the victim of the theft to search for the item on the many websites posting items for sale.
“Sometimes it’s a needle in a hay stack,” Carriger said. “Other times it’s right there on top.”
As was the case in the Sandy department’s most recent digital nab, posted Monday on the department’s Facebook page. Someone had stolen a turquoise Trek mountain bike from an apartment complex at 152 E Midvillage Blvd.
Officers took down the particulars on the incident, the serial number of the bike, etc., and suggested the victim look for it online.
Bingo. Turns out the thief posted it for sale the same day he stole it, and the victim the same night found the shiny new, near $1,000 bike listed on a Facebook marketplace page.
Officers researched the seller’s profile, reached out to him, Carriger said, and arranged to meet at a Sandy location under the ruse of buying the bike.
The sting worked as a detective in an unmarked police car waited at the designated meeting place. The thief showed with the stolen bike, the detective confirmed the serial number, and arrested the seller, a 31-year-old Salt Lake City man.
Instead of the suspect’s expected pure profit, instant cash payoff, the buyer showed him a badge and a set of handcuffs. “People get very shocked when that happens,” Carriger said. “It’s very satisfying for the officer.”
