Someone stole a high quality mountain bike, valued about $9000, from a front window display at Bike Otago in Castle St, Dunedin, on Saturday night but the bike was not taken far.
An intruder smashed a side window to gain entry to the window display area, in what may have been an opportunistic theft.
The recently released, US manufactured women's bike, a Yeti Beti model SB5c, was found abandoned a few blocks away in Harrow St, near Anzac Ave, early yesterday morning.
The member of the public who spotted the bike was apparently a customer of the Bike Otago shop, and immediately realised its value and where it was likely to have come from. The police were then alerted.
When police rang the Bike Otago accounts manager about 9am yesterday, they were able to advise not only that the shop had been broken into but also that the item stolen had been recovered, in good condition.
Senior Sergeant Craig Brown, of Dunedin, said police inquiries into the break in were continuing, and praised the alertness of the member of the public in spotting the abandoned bike.
