Portland Police Arrest Man with $6,000 Worth of Bike Parts

Cops say the man was arrested under the I-5 overpass with $1,200 in cash and “several small marijuana plants.”

Is this your bicycle? The Portland Police Bureau's Bike Theft Task Force would like to give it back to you.

Police officers arrested a man in a Southeast Portland homeless camp June 21 with what the cops say was between $5,000 and $6,000 worth of likely stolen bicycle parts.

Police arrested Wesley Ferron on Tuesday beneath the I-5 overpass near the trailhead of the Springwater Corridor in Portland's Central Eastside. They charged Ferron, 39, with selling heroin and methamphetamine, and say they found him with the bike parts, $1,200 in cash, and "several small marijuana plants."

Related: Some bike racks are better than others. Here's how to find the best lock-up spots to deter bike thieves.

Police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson says the arrest is noteworthy because of how much cash Ferron was carrying.

"Arresting a drug dealer isn't that interesting, but he was staying in a homeless camp and had over $1,000 in cash along with the stolen property," Simpson says. "People might be surprised by that. The fact that this guy living there has $1,200 in cash is sort of an unusual thing for most people to see."

But it's also worth noting that this is the latest in a now familiar pattern of run-ins between the Bike Theft Task Force and homeless camps or squatters. The most famous of these was the busting of an alleged bicycle chop shop in the upstairs of the former Slabtown music venue in Northwest Portland.

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