The buyer “explains having been approached in the street by a person who had electric bikes for sale”, indicates the gendarmerie. Interested in a bike, the buyer agrees on the price of 200 euros with the seller, a price “which cannot correspond to the value of the bike”, highlights the gendarmerie.
A few days later, the seller indicated to the buyer “a thicket in Hossegor where the bike was hidden”. The buyer goes there, loads the bike into his personal vehicle under the city's cameras.
Fine and confiscated car
“Easily identified”, the buyer “admitted the facts”. He denied knowing “that the bike was stolen” but, the gendarmes point out, “he should have suspected it given the price and the terms of the transaction”.
The customer was the subject of an alternative to the prosecution: he must pay a citizen contribution of 1,000 euros and sees his car permanently withdrawn, estimated at 6,000 euros. “The prosecution ordered the confiscation of his vehicle (Audi A6) which was used to transport the bicycle, as the means used to commit the offense,” explains Lieutenant-Colonel Simon Cahour of the Dax gendarmerie company.
“I would like to emphasize the absolute need for buyers to remain vigilant during this type of transaction: too good a deal is certainly a bad deal. The price must be consistent and the transaction terms must not give rise to suspicion. The risk incurred, to earn a few hundred euros, is far too great,” warns the lieutenant-colonel.
