On Wednesday, September 29th, 2021, at 1:45 pm, a Stanislaus State police officer who was driving past Venice Motel, 1114 N Golden State Blvd, Turlock, noticed a tricycle locked on a bike rack in the motel’s parking lot that matched the description of one that had been stolen from the dorms on their campus just two days prior.

The officer called for assistance and got out with the tricycle, checked its serial number, and confirmed that it was indeed the one that had been stolen off of their campus.

Officers made contact with a subject, later identified as Miguel Garcia, 49, of Turlock, who told them that he had seen the tricycle abandoned in the motel parking lot, so he had taken it and locked it on the bike rack to “keep it safe”.

After officers had Garcia unlock the tricycle and remove it from the bike rack, they detained him in handcuffs to further investigate.

Eventually, Garcia was arrested and released on a citation on charges of possession of stolen property.

The tricycle was returned to its rightful owner who later went on social media and expressed her gratitude to the officer who found it.

Stanislaus State had three separate bike theft incidents occur within the week of September 26th through October 2nd. Although there is currently nothing that suggests that the three are related or were stolen by the same person, Stanislaus State Police Captain Cheri Silveira says that bike thieves typically run in the same circle.

The investigation into this theft and the others remains on-going. Anyone with information that could assist in the investigation is encouraged to call Officer Quenna Martinez at 209-667-3114.