HOUSTON — A man says a Houston Police officer suggested he should pay money to get his stolen bicycle returned.
HPD is investigating those claims, a spokesman said.
Mario Perez lost his car during Hurricane Harvey. Since then, his black and grey Jamis Renegade Exile bicycle carried him to and from work.
Someone stole the bike Saturday night, though. But what hurts more is what he claims a Houston Police officer told people who are buying and selling the stolen bicycle.
“You don’t need to worry about getting in any trouble,” Perez said. “You’re not under any real obligation to really return anything. If you can get him to bring the bike back, maybe pay him for it. I (was) getting a little aggravated because I don’t want to pay for my own property.”
Perez said a thief climbed over his second-floor patio fence in the Gulfton area and stole the bike.
Within hours, Perez saw an ad with photos of his property on the app “Offer Up,” he said. Perez took images of the ad, photos of his bicycle, the purchase receipt, along with the seller’s name and address to HPD’s Midwest Patrol Station.
The next day, an officer escorted Perez to the apartment of a woman selling the bicycle, Perez said.
“(The officer went) through a lot of I can’t arrest anybody,” Perez said. “I can’t grab the bike back. We’ll see what happens.”
The seller used her cell phone to call a man who admitted buying the bicycle, Perez said. However, he was in no mood to return it without getting paid, according to Perez.
So, the officer took the phone and asked questions, Perez claims.
“How much did you pay for that bike?” Perez claims the officer asked the man on the phone. “I can’t hear what’s going on but (the officer) says really? $180? You got a really good deal. I’m standing there confused as to why she’s saying this and hoping there’s some kind of cop psych-out thing going on. She hands me (the phone) like, you know, just work something out with him and she says she has to leave.”
Managers at the patrol station are looking into the officer’s actions, an HPD spokesman said. The case is hardly closed.
Burglary and Theft detectives plan to find the stolen bicycle and those involved, according to HPD.
“I feel cheated out of my tax dollars,” Perez said.
Until he has his bicycle, Perez is one fed up walker tired of waiting for a ride.
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