After his motorcycle was stolen during a test drive, an Alexandria man tracked it down days later on Facebook Marketplace.
The incident occurred at the victim’s business in the 4900 block of Eisenhower Avenue on Thursday, March 20. The victim listed his blue 2004 Suzuki GSX-R9600 for sale on Facebook Marketplace, and the suspect reached out via Facebook Messenger and asked for a test drive, according to a recently released search warrant affidavit. The suspect allegedly took the bike for a ride and never returned, and on March 25 the victim found the motorcycle listed in another Facebook Marketplace ad.
The motorcycle owner told police that he located the bike nearly five miles away with a GPS device.
“After an extended period of test driving the motorcycle, (the victim) checked the location of the motorcycle utilizing an aftermarket GPS tracking device,” an Alexandria Police Department officer wrote in the search warrant affidavit. “The device showed (the motorcycle) in the area of the 6200 block of Richmond Highway in Fairfax County.”
The victim then went to the area to locate his bike, “but only located the GPS device in the median of the roadway,” according to the search warrant affidavit.
The victim told police that the suspect sent him a photo of his Maryland driver’s license, but upon closer inspection found that the suspect “added text” to change his name and address. APD was able to read through the added text to find the suspect’s real name and address.
On March 29, the victim notified APD that he found a Facebook Marketplace ad for his motorcycle in Ashburn. The suspect’s phone number was identified through an insurance claim he filed on March 30.
The suspect, a 21-year-old Loudoun County man, was arrested on May 8 and charged with auto theft and failure to appear. He posted a $1,000 unsecured bond and was released that same day.
The suspect goes to court on May 28.
