QUINCY, ILL. -- Throughout the year, Quincy police officers are called to pick up abandoned bikes and other items that are found in and around the city.
Have you ever wondered what happens to those items after several months of sitting in either an evidence locker or impound lot.
A majority of the items are bicycles and now you can get the chance to buy one at an auction next week.
Because every few months the Quincy Police Department has to make a decision on when to hold another auction to get rid of unclaimed property that's been collecting in their garage at city hall.
Most of the items are bicycles that have been picked up by officers on patrol.
These items have been labeled as either lost or unclaimed property or property that has been found and the owner can't be located.
Jan Achepol is the evidence custodian for the Quincy Police Department and she said,"normally we tend to collect more bikes during the warmer season when people are out on them, they misplace them, they're stolen or whatever. So this is about average probably and it's about 60 bikes."
The bikes that will be auctioned off on Tuesday have been in the unclaimed property lockup for at least six months.
The police department says if someone is missing a bike that can come to the department to see if it's there.
Most of the bikes have their serial number on the bottom of the crankshaft.
But if you think you're bike is there, you better be making a call first thing Monday morning.
"They are going to be picking these up Monday morning, so if they feel that there's possibly a bike that they have down here that is going to the auction house, they need to give me a call first thing on Monday morning, eight o'clock, so we can get it, because I believe they're going to be picking these up at ten o'clock," Achepol said.
The money from the auction usually totals a few hundred dollars maybe a bit more. But the money earned from the auction is then directed to the city's general revenue fund.
The department says it depends on how many items have been collected as to how many times there is a abandoned property auction.
Besides the bikes, there's even a weed eater and a winter sled that will be available at the auction, too.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKHQA