A 54-year-old man was named as a defendant after stealing a bicycle, valued at nearly five thousand euros, from a store in the Industrial Zone of Leiria, according to the Public Security Police (PSP).
In a statement sent to newsrooms on Friday, the authority explained that it received a “criminal complaint” in August, indicating that a “man seized a bicycle displayed in a store” on July 23.
According to the complaint, the man “removed the bicycle from the display” and told one of the employees, who approached him, that he was “just checking the weight” of the bike, valued at 4,799 euros.
“After the employee left, the suspect took the bicycle to the checkout area and left it there,” explained the PSP, adding that the man took advantage of “a moment when the employees were busy and the security had left the exit area” to steal the bicycle.
The man, “after studying the behavior” of the store employees, picked up the bicycle again and left the store, “placing it inside a vehicle and leaving to an unknown location.”
During police investigations, it was possible to identify and locate the suspect, who, when approached by the PSP, returned the bicycle “of his own free will.”
The bicycle was confiscated, and the suspect was named as a defendant and subjected to identity and residence conditions.
