A man in the UK was arrested after a mountain of stolen bikes in his garden grew so big that it could be seen on Google Earth.
Police were called to a property in Oxford, where detectives uncovered more than 500 stolen bicycles. The stash of bikes was recovered following a police raid on his premises last Thursday, Daily Mail reported.
A 54-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods and possession of criminal property.
“A 54-year-old man from Oxford has been arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods and possession of criminal property following the execution of a warrant in Littlemore,” the Thames Valley Police said in a statement.
A number of complaints were filed against the man, who was later released under investigation, as per Daily Mail. According to local neighbours police were at the address sorting through the hundreds of bikes. Colleen Butler, a local resident, said that the neighbour has been there for nearly a decade.
“I started reporting his festering collection of bikes four years ago, but it’s been going on for about five years. I made the first report because the amount of bikes was just ridiculous,” Colleen told Daily Mail.
“There must have been at least 500 of them. When I spoke to him he said they were going to be sent to Africa for needy kids but, as you can see, they never went to Africa. The bikes are coming in by vanloads and people bring them here most nights and during the daytime as well,” she added.
Police are now looking to identify the real owners of the bicycles.
“A large number of bicycles, believed to be stolen, have been recovered from the property. Officers are currently in the process of identifying ownership of these bicycles,” a Thames Valley Police spokesperson said.
