From LAist's "Thanks to Craigslist, Downtown Bicycle-Theft Ring Busted By Undercover Cops"
A Mercedes Benz? Seriously?On Friday, undercover detectives visited a man in Santa Monica to buy a bike posted on Craigslist .... The seller, 51-year-old Ukrainian native Konstantin Rostovtsev, was arrested after agreeing on the sale of a $600 Sirrus bike for $300.
Rostovtsev's arrest led detectives next to another alleged source for stolen bicycle, Edward Rene Arciga, the next day. “We called Arciga and asked him if he had bikes for sale,” said Lt. Paul Vernon, who heads up the Central Detective Division. They met him at a motel at Olive Motel on Sunset Boulevard where he pulled a bicycle out of his Mercedes Benz’s trunk to show them a potential bike for sale. As he was being arrested, an accomplice opened up one of the motel's room door, exposing bolt cutters and more bikes.
“This latter arrest was a gold mine,” said Vernon. “We found the two men were also bleaching money to counterfeit $100 bills.” The Secret Service was called in to seize a computer and printer related to the counterfeit operation and evidence of heroin use was also found.
Also: Konstantin Rostovtsev is 51? Edward Rene Arciga is 43? Shows you that there's no stereotyping bike thieves ....
