KIPS BAY — A man tried to sell a stolen bike to a plainclothes officer on the corner of East 25th Street and Third Avenue, according to the NYPD.
John Huston, 59, approached the officer at 2:17 p.m. on April 22 and tried to sell him a gray Nishiki bike, police said.
When the officer asked Huston where he got the bike, Huston said he had gotten it from his "drug addict friend" who he said had most likely stolen it, according to police.
At this candid admission, the officer identified himself and arrested Huston. He was also carrying wire cutters capable of clipping some bike locks, according to authorities.
Prosecutors charged Huston with possession of stolen property and possession of burglary tools, records show. Huston pleaded guilty to the stolen property charge and a judge released him on on the condition that he complete three days of community service, with the option of a new, stiffer sentence if he commits another crime, according to court records.
Huston has previously spent about eight years in New York state prisons on two different convictions of attempted burglary, and was released most recently in 2004, according to state records.
Huston’s lawyer did not immediately return a request for comment.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misstated the a judge's sentencing of Huston.
