4 men charged with stealing high-end bicycles

MILLCREEK — Four men were charged Monday with breaking into a bicycle shop and stealing more than $43,000 worth of bikes.

Todd Levi Carter, 30, of Salt Lake City; Beau Allan Mannion, 31, who is homeless; and Marcus Bennett Thomson, 27, of Millcreek, are each charged in 3rd District Court with two counts of theft, a second-degree felony, while Peter William Petrowske, 52, who is homeless, is charged with one count. Each man is also charged with various counts of criminal mischief, a second-degree felony; burglary, a third-degree felony; and criminal mischief, a class B misdemeanor.

On Feb. 7, the men used a U-Haul truck to break into Hyland Cyclery, 3040 S. Highland Drive, and took eight bikes worth approximately $43,000, according to charging documents. Damage to the store was estimated at more than $16,500. The stolen truck was later located near 2300 East and 4300 South, but it was empty.

On Feb. 9, police went to a homeless camp next to Fairmont Park, near 1100 E. Ashton Ave., where "several high-end bicycles were in plain view in the camp," according to the charges. Six of them were from Hyland Cyclery.

Thompson, Petrowske and Manion were arrested at that time. They told police that Carter had picked them up and came up with the plan to steal the bikes, the charges state.

On Feb. 15, detectives located Carter in Salt Lake City but said he fled when police attempted to pull him over. On Feb. 17, he was located again near 3060 S. 300 East and was taken into custody.

Carter was also charged Monday with failing to respond to an officer's signal to stop, a third-degree felony. Thomson and Petrowske were also charged with drug distribution with intent to distribute, a second-degree felony.

Carter has had nine criminal cases filed against him in four counties since October, according to court records. In January, an undercover officer in Orem attempted to buy a stolen go-cart from him. As police moved in and attempted to take him into custody, Carter sped away and made a "sharp turn to avoid hitting two officers and hit a parked vehicle and came close to running over the two occupants who had just exited the vehicle," according to charging documents. He is accused of driving into oncoming traffic and hitting a parked trailer on purpose, causing the go-cart on his trailer to fall onto the road about a block later.

Petrowske also had two outstanding warrants at the time of his arrest. He was charged in December with theft by receiving stolen property and burglary of a vehicle for taking a company's work vehicle and tools, charging documents say. A warrant was issued for his arrest in January after he failed to show up for court. He was also charged with burglary in another case a year ago in Salt Lake City and a warrant was also issued in that case.

Related topics