VANCOUVER -- A pricey bike made for residents of a long-term care home in Vancouver has been returned after being stolen from an underground parking lot.
The bike built for two was returned Tuesday night by police, after someone turned it in.
In an email to CTV News, the executive director of the Yaletown House Society said it appeared whoever had taken the $17,000 tandem tricycle had sold it.
Vancouver police told Carol Crichton that a man had bought the specially-made bike for $750, but realized it was too big to store in his condo.
So he brought it to his brother's in Burnaby, but must have seen news coverage of the unique bike – which is made for those with mobility issues – and realized it was the same one.
Police were called and identified the bike as the one that had been stolen from Yaletown House.
The bike was brought back in an officer's truck, and was wiped down in case of COVID-19 exposure.
It's now secured inside the care home, Crichton said.
It is not yet known who initially took the bike from the parking lot. Surveillance video from 11:30 a.m. Saturday showed a man entering the lot, and riding the bike out of the area about a minute later.
The home had received the bike just a month before, and none of the residents had had a chance to ride it before it was taken. Chrichton said they'd been waiting for the pandemic to end, when seniors could get out into the community safely.
"We hope one day to see you all safely biking on the seawall with our electric tricycle built for two!" Crichton said in an email Tuesday night.
With files from CTV News Vancouver's Alissa Thibault
