The reign of Toronto’s legendary Igor the Bicycle Thief has ended. He seems to be personally responsible for the City’s reputation as the bike theft capital of North America. This picture shows just some of the 2,000 bicycles police have pulled out of houses, garages and warehouses.

Igor Kenk, 49, was the owner of the notorious Bicycle Clinic bike shop in Toronto. The shop had a long reputation for selling stolen bikes.

Armed with a search warrant, pry bars and rubber gloves, officers raided a tumbledown garage in a muddy back alley on Elm Grove Avenue, one of three more that police cleared of bicycles yesterday after previous raids at Mr. Kenk’s shop, home and a pair of rented garages.

Police uncovered a chaotic mess comprising not only bicycles, but an array of orphaned items including a dead Coke machine, a stack of roofing shingles and a female mannequin sporting an X, made of electrical tape, on each breast.

Katherine Vettese, who lives on Elm Grove Avenue near Igor, said he and his junk-laden pickup truck were a frequent sight in the alley behind her home. “He would always be here with a big, huge pickup truck full of odd stuff,” she said. “All the time.”

Tags: bicycles