Four men arrested by Fresno County Sheriff’s Office in bike theft sting

Four men were arrested by the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office after detectives used a sting operation to recover a stolen bike.

The victim’s bike, a Yuba Boda Boda valued at $2,500, was stolen on Sept. 8 from her vehicle’s bike rack while parked at a home on the 4400 block of North Bungalow Lane in the Old Fig Garden neighborhood, sheriff’s spokesman Tony Botti said. A report was filed online through the Fresno County sheriff’s website.

Deputies were contacted by the victim on New Year’s Day after she saw a bike on Craigslist that she believed was hers. She supplied detectives with the original sales receipt and the bike’s serial number in hopes they could compare it to the bike being offered on Craigslist.

A sting was conducted on Jan. 4 by deputies after a meeting was arranged with the person selling the bike at a local shopping center, Botti said.

Two men, Kim Martin, 53, and Ryan Gault, 39, arrived and unloaded a Yuba bike from their vehicle. Detectives concluded it was indeed the stolen bike and arrested Martin for allegedly possessing stolen property valued over $950, Botti said. Gault was arrested for allegedly possessing a methamphetamine pipe and violating probation.

Detectives served a search warrant on the home Martin is renting on the 6100 block of San Pablo Avenue, near Blackstone and Bullard avenues, in Fresno. They found a stolen car parked in the driveway, and also found scales and documentation showing drug sales, Botti said.

Chad Clark, 52, was contacted at the house, and deputies found him to be in possession of a small amount of meth. Rowdy Blevins, 46, was arrested for allegedly possessing drugs for sale and possessing a stolen vehicle.

Three of the men were booked into the Fresno County Jail, while Clark was only given a citation, Botti said.

This story was originally published January 8, 2016 at 9:35 PM with the headline "Four men arrested by Fresno County Sheriff’s Office in bike theft sting."