Police recover 11 e-bikes

An alleged thief with a passion for electric bikes had his plans punctured by police.

Police received a report on January 23 of e-bikes stolen from Parnell in Auckland, says Waitemata West detective sergeant Jimmy Kim.

“Three weeks later we received information that these items were being sold on Facebook,” he says.

“The suspect was identified as living in West Auckland so our team followed up as we were aware that multiple e-bikes had also been stolen from around that area.”

Kim says his team executed a search warrant at an address on Great North Road in Henderson where they located a number of items of interest.

“Police found 11 e-bikes (valued at $58,000) and 200 rounds of 0.22 ammunition at the address,” he says.

“So far we have established the bikes were stolen from Hobsonville, Albany, Ponsonby, Parnell, and Takapuna and have managed to return seven of them back to their rightful owners.”

A 36-year-old man has been charged with two counts of burglary and unlawful possession of ammunition and will reappear in the Waitakere District Court on March 14.

Enquiries are ongoing and further charges are likely, says Kim.