The former head of the dissolved Bike Rescue organization has been charged with trafficking stolen property after police, acting on a tip from North Vancouver, seized some $20,000 worth of high-end bicycles from his home and storage locker.
Gordon Sinclaire Blackwell, 44, was arrested Oct. 18 when officers executed a search warrant on his Vancouver home, recovering eight high-end bicycles and a large number of parts that investigators allege were stolen. Police have since returned one bicycle to its owner, they said, and are now trying to find the owners of the other seven.
North Vancouver Mounties began investigating Blackwell after two residents told them they had found stolen bicycles for sale on-line. Officers gathered evidence over several weeks leading up to the raid on Blackwell's home.
Blackwell has been charged with possession of stolen property and trafficking in stolen property. He is being held in custody pending a court appearance. Blackwell was on parole at the time of his arrest.
The suspect's now-defunct Bike Rescue organization came to media attention in 2009 when an investigative report - and later a police investigation - led to accusations that it was a front for the reselling of stolen merchandise. At the time, Blackwell claimed the group existed to locate and return lost or stolen bicycles to owners.
North Vancouver RCMP have published a list of bikes seized in the Oct. 18 raid in the hopes the owners will recognize them. It can be viewed at the detachment's website: nvan.rcmp-grc.gc.ca.
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