A 36 year-old man is facing multiple charges in the St. Thomas Police’s investigation into a theft from a bike rack outside of Central Elgin Collegiate Institute on Tuesday morning (November 5). A student called police when he found that the upgraded front forks on his bike were stolen during class while his bike was parked at the bike rack on Monday (November 4).
Police observed the school’s security footage that showed a man wearing dark pants and a grey hoodie remove the forks and steal them in a matter of minutes on Monday afternoon. Police located the suspect on Talbot Street on Tuesday afternoon and realized that he was also wanted on a previous warrant for cashing a stolen cheque in the summer.
The man was taken into custody without incident and the stolen bicycle forks valued at $350 were found in his backpack at the time of arrest. Freddy Cruz-Ventura is facing charges of possession of stolen property and uttering a forged document. He was released with a future court date. The bike forks were returned to the bike’s owner.
