MISSOULA – The Missoula Police Department’s bike auction will take place on Tuesday, July 30 — and if you have a lost or stolen bicycle, MPD asks that you check with them before the event.
Police hold bikes for anywhere between 30 and 90 days depending on the value. You can simply go down to the Missoula police station or call to check the status of your bicycle.
They ask that you provide serial or registration numbers and bike descriptions like make model and color. Also if you have reported it stolen they ask you bring a case number with you.
Missoula Police Department spokesman Sgt. Travis Welsh adds that if your bike is stolen and you are simply checking to see if MPD has it, it’s still worth filing a report with them.
“It is certainly a good idea especially if we haven’t located your bicycle yet — if we haven’t recovered it,” he explained.
“If you come down looking for it and haven’t made a report and you suspect that it was lost or stolen we would encourage you to make that report so if in fact in the future we do have it recovered we then have documentation from you that will help us get it back to you,” Sgt. Welsh added.
The bike auction this year will be online for the first time through Gardner’s Auction Service. The bikes can be seen at Gardner’s Auction Service until 4 p.m. on the day of the auction. The online auction will start at 4:30 p.m. on July 30.
Additionally, f you believe your bike to be apart of the recent theft ring caught just last week, police are still processing all the bicycles and parts and it might take some time before they are ready to be released.
-information from Melissa Rafferty included in this report
