VANCOUVER - Vancouver city police want to put the brakes on a website that claims to return stolen bikes to local riders.

But Gord Blackwell of www.bikerescue.org may be simply selling stolen property he bought on the street, say police, who have recommended charges against the East Vancouverite.

"If he wants to run a legitimate company that truly wants to return bikes to people, he would work with local police," said Cst. Tim Fanning.

A CTV British Columbia investigation has revealed that Blackwell is the listed owner of the website, with an address near Fraser Street in East Vancouver.

On the site, Blackwell - who has fraud convictions in several provinces - says that he targets bikes that have been "ripped" and then rescues and returns them.

If the bike is unclaimed after 30 days, Blackwell says he sells the bikes to fund his program. He says he's returned over $50,000 worth of bikes, and only profited $1600.

Blackwell claimed on his site that he was working with police, but Fanning said that wasn't the case.

"Did he ever tell officers where he was getting these bikes?" asked Fanning. "He did - he said he was getting them from people in the downtown core and the downtown eastside...he knew they were very sketchy and very likely bikes were stolen."

Rider Bill Gordon told CTV News that he'd lost his 2007 Kona bike and went to bikerescue.org to try and retrieve it. The bike was in a storage locker in Coquitlam, but Gordon was told it would cost him.

"He opened up a storage locker full of bikes," said Gordon. "He said that's great, this was a successful recovery, but 30 seconds previous he was trying to sell it to me.

"His website attempts to legitimize his business but really his business is selling stolen bicycles," said Gordon.

Even the RCMP in Coquitlam want to investigate him, said Cst. Brenda Gresiuk.

Right now, the bike rescue program is a "one-man show," said Blackwell, but he hopes to establish himself as a non-profit society. Blackwell told CTV News that his program is legitimate.

"You know you guys are going to undo all the good I do with Bike Rescue," he said.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Lisa Rossington