PUEBLO COUNTY – What should you do when a precious item is stolen?
When a Pueblo woman had her bike swiped she not only contacted law enforcement right away, but also kept track of an important set of numbers on the bicycle that led to its recovery.
“When this one was stolen it just broke my heart,” said Paris Elliott. She’s had not one, but two bicycles stolen in the last few years.
“I had been saving up for a few years to buy a new bike after my last one was stolen.”
Her most recent bicycle, she said, was taken just two weeks after she bought it.
“Somebody broke into the back window of the garage and stole the bike.”
Following the break-in she contacted the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office right away and they came to her home.
“Before they left we gave them the serial number to my bike.”
It was that sequence of numbers that led detectives to the EZPawn on Northern and Prairie.
“The serial number came up in some system and when the pawn shop entered the serial number it came up in a system that flagged it as stolen.”
The sheriff’s office did a cross check of the number at the shop and it matched Elliott’s bike.
“I don’t think we would’ve gotten the bike back if it wasn’t for the serial number…keep that serial number with all the rest of your important papers. It’s something that is really important.”
Elliott said this incident has forced her to make some changes. She’s no longer leaving anything nice in the garage and the window will stay boarded up.
