Toronto police have recovered hundreds of bicycles that they say were stolen in a large-scale theft operation.
Detectives in 14 Division, in the downtown west side, launched an investigation on Wednesday after a bicycle police planted was stolen.
Police allege the owner of The Bicycle Clinic on Queen Street told a man to steal nearby bicycles with a bolt cutter.
On Thursday, officers executed three search warrants and found the large cache of bicycles, as well as some cocaine and marijuana. Some of the bikes were worth as much as $7,000, police said.
The bikes have been put on display at the police station garage at 9 Hanna St. Those who have had their bikes stolen recently are encouraged to go and view them this weekend, between 10 a.m. Saturday and 6 p.m. Sunday.
"If you've had your bicycle stolen in the last little while, come on down, take a look and see if you can identify one of these as your bicycle," said Det. Sgt. Ed Roseto said on Friday.
"Bring identification, bring receipts that you might have, pictures of you on the bike, so that we can determine if it's your bicycle or not."
Officers will also discussing the service's online bicycle registration program.
Detectives, meanwhile, say their theft investigation is ongoing.
Police have seen a significant increase in the number of bike thefts this year. So far, there have been more than 4,500 bikes reported stolen.
In the past six weeks alone, almost 100 bikes have been stolen in the west end of the downtown core.
Igor Kenk, 49, and Jean Laveau, 47, have been charged with:
- Theft
- Attempted theft
- Possession of stolen property
- Possession of burglary tools
The men are in custody pending a bail hearing on Monday.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Jim Junkin
