One of the reasons criminals get arrested is that they aren't very smart in the first place. Proof of that came this week when Seattle Police arrested three suspects at at Westwood Village Monday after they tried to sell a very expensive bike stolen days earlier from the REI store in downtown Seattle.

According to police on May 21, someone in a mask got into a fenced, gated area at the REI flagship store in the 200 block of Yale Avenue and stole a black and neon green Ghost Kato bike worth $2,700.
Keeping an eye out an alert REI staffer found an ad for a just such a bike on Craigslist. The ad listed the bike at $1,500, describing it as “brand new” and “ready to be picked up.” “Serious inquiries only!!!,” the seller wrote.

REI staff shared the ad with police, and Southwest Precinct Anti-Crime Team Officer Ernie Debelle contacted the seller setting up a Monday night meeting.

Around 6 PM, police were waiting at Westwood Village when the suspects–a 29-year-old woman and two men, 28 and 40 years old showed up in a cab. The suspects pulled the bike out of the cab’s trunk and began visually searching the area, possibly looking for police.

Officers contacted the group, confirmed the bike was the same one stolen days earlier, and booked the men and woman into the King County Jail for trafficking stolen property.