ASU Police arrested a man suspected of multiple bike thefts.
Police were able to arrest Brett Swanson, 26, on Sept. 20 for possession of stolen property and loitering the Tempe campus, at the 30 block of East 7th Street, according to the police report.
Before heading to class an ASU student witnessed Swanson messing with bicycles at the Palo Verde East dormitories’ bike rack. A security guard for the Brickyard Complex on Mill Avenue also saw Swanson, at a later time, place two backpacks beside a stairwell and carrying bike tires, according to the report.
“He had been witnessed cutting locks off of bikes on the bike racks but before officers could get there he was gone,” ASU Police Cmdr. Jim Hardina said.
The security guard and the student notified police and when they responded they found Swanson on East Seventh Street with a Raleigh Bicycle, which was not considered stolen, according to the report. Swanson told police the bike was his and he traded a specialized bike “with a guy he knew” for it, but Swanson could not provide any of the man’s information, according to the report.
Hardina said when police talked to Swanson he denied ownership of the backpacks and didn’t know whom they belonged to.
An officer requested to search the bags to which Swanson said “they’re not mine,” according to a report.
In one backpack police found a bolt cutter, wrenches and various tools as well as various bike parts such as bolts and pieces of a brake mechanism, a Bontrager seat and post, police reported.
The other backpack contained another bolt cutter, flashlights, and more bike parts. Police also found a bike lock, which Swanson admitted to being his.
Swanson was banned from all ASU property on Sept. 7 by ASU Police for loitering on the Tempe campus, according to a police report.
Another run-in between police and Swanson occurred on Sept. 13 when an officer observed Swanson cutting the lock of a secured bicycle on a bike rack on the north side of Hassayampa Phase 1 in Tempe.
When the officer radioed the information to other officers, who later arrived on scene, the man believed to have been Swanson fled, leaving behind an unsecured bike, backpack and bolt cutters, police reported.
According to the report, the officer warned Swanson during the latest incident about loitering and reminded him of his previous trespass from ASU property but Swanson asked, “What is loitering?”
After the officer explained to Swanson that he was not allowed to be on campus Swanson said he was attending a bike event but did not know any information about the event, police reported.
Swanson was arrested, transported and booked to Tempe City Jail where he was given a citation for loitering and was held to see a judge, according to the report.
Police did a search for additional evidence around the Brickyard complex and found a white Tessa wheel, a green-rimmed Amelia tire, a Scott brand white rim and tire and one white Scott handlebars in some bushes, according to the report. The officer noted that the Raleigh bike belonging to Swanson had one green tire and one white tire.
Later that day a victim reported to police that his handlebars and rear wheel from his Scott Road bike were stolen and when the victim described the items he was able to give exact matching details to the parts found in the Brickyard bushes, according to the report.
All of the items found on Swanson were impounded as evidence and for safekeeping, police reported.
Reach the reporter at sraymund@asu.edu
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