A Northeast man was charged criminally last week in connection with a theft of thousands of dollars worth of bicycles belonging to the Wounded Warriors Project, a charity dedicated to helping injured U.S. combat veterans.
Philadelphia police joined officers from Tinicum Township, Delaware County, in raiding a house on the 4100 block of Stirling St. in Tacony on Aug. 23. They arrested an occupant of the house, Roy Bowman, and recovered four bicycles and related equipment valued at about $8,000, according to the Daily Times newspaper.
The theft occurred on Aug. 13 at the Renaissance Philadelphia Airport Hotel in Tinicum when someone stole a U-Haul truck from the parking lot. The vehicle contained three road bikes, three hybrid bikes and three recumbent bikes (where riders sit close to the ground in a reclined position), plus equipment. The total value of the cargo was placed at $37,000. Wounded Warriors were in town for their annual Soldier Ride fundraiser that day.
On Aug. 23, someone tipped the Philadelphia police Major Crimes Unit that the missing bikes were inside a garage at the Stirling Street house. When police conducted surveillance of the house, they allegedly saw Bowman, 48, remove a bike from an SUV and take it inside. Investigators obtained a search warrant and carried out the raid.
Police have not released information about the other missing bikes.
Bowman was charged in Philadelphia with receiving stolen property and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 8. He is being held at Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in lieu of $150,000 bail. Bowman has prior convictions for theft, burglary and robbery, among other offenses. In 1992, he was sentenced to serve four to 10 years in state prison for robbery. ••
