By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY
Salina Post
A Salina man is in custody after he allegedly stole an electric bicycle and bike trailer that were parked at a store near downtown Sunday morning.
A 61-year-old Salina man told police that he had parked his electrically-modified silver Mongoose bicycle with bike trailer outside DG Market, 511 E. Iron, and went inside to shop at approximately 8:45 a.m. Sunday, Salina Police Captain Paul Forrester said this morning. When the man walked out of the store, he discovered the bike and trailer missing.
The bike and trailer were valued at $500.
Forrester said surveillance video showed that shortly after the man entered the store, another man, described as a white male wearing a black ball cap, black shorts, and a gray t-shirt with "chill out" on it, rode up to the store on another bicycle and entered the store. He left a short while later and rode off on the other man's electric bicycle, Forrester said.
At approximately 9 a.m. Sunday, an officer spotted the man riding the electric bicycle in the area of State Street and N. College Avenue. The officer attempted to stop the man, but he took off, eventually ditching the bike and fleeing on foot in the 100 block of S. Clark Street, Forrester said.
Another officer spotted the man at approximately 9:25 a.m. in the alley between West Place and S. College Avenue. After a foot pursuit, the man, identified as Zachariah Behling, 31, of Salina, was apprehended.
Behling was arrested on the following requested charges, Forrester said.
●Felony theft
●Two counts of interference with a law enforcement officer
The bike and trailer were returned to the owner.