A Montreal man was required to pay $500 to buy back his stolen bicycles from a pawn shop.

Two of Regis Gama’s bicycles were stolen out of his basement in February.

Even more incredible: the suspect then walked right into a police station, claiming the bikes were his.

“He went to a police station and said, 'Hey, I bought this bicycle on Kijiji,' can you check if it's been reported stolen or not? Then a few days later they went with a second bicycle also to a police station to do the same,” said Gama.

Montreal police say after 30 days without a police report, they will issue a certificate of ownership.

“In my years, I've seen people who found a camera, a phone or whatever. They bring it in, register it, we verify it in our system. Has it been registered to someone? Is it part of a robbery or whatever? Then the person can claim it as their own,” explained Andre Durocher of the Montreal police

With that certificate in hand, the thief then sold the bikes to a pawnshop.

Because of a Montreal bylaw concerning pawnshops and second-hand goods, the store owner had taken down the suspect's information and forwarded it to the police.

They found the bikes, but Gama was still required to pay $500 to retrieve them.

“If a business like a pawn shop buys bicycles in good faith and follows the regulations, then according to the Civil Code of Quebec, the real owner of the bicycles has to refund the business owner for the same amount that they paid for the stolen bikes,” said Gama.

“If you have a situation where someone brings something they found or they say it's theirs and the pawn shop sends it to the police station in good faith, there's nothing we can do,” added Durocher.

Luckily, Gama said the thief was caught and will have to refund the $500.

Montreal police say 2,000 bikes per year are reported stolen, though they suspect many more are stolen but don’t get reported.

Gama said he now makes sure all his bicycles are engraved, which police say is the best way to track down stolen bikes.

“I never expected to be one of the lucky ones,” said Gama of having his bicycle returned.

Police engrave bikes with a serial number and enter the owner's information into a database.

Those interested in the security measure can do so in NDG on the following dates:

  • July 25, 12 p.m. – 2 p.m. at Benny Park (Monkland / Cavendish)
  • July 27, 12 p.m. – 2 p.m., corner Terrebonne St. and Grand Blvd.

Contact your local police station for other engraving dates.