Niles Police Department to host auction this weekend
Published 9:26 am Thursday, July 7, 2016
From bicycles to cars to an automated floor-cleaning robot — all will be up for grabs during the Niles Police Department’s annual auction Saturday morning.
Many of the items were obtained using the state’s civil asset forfeiture laws, which allow police departments to confiscate property, such as cars and cell phones, when they are seized in drug cases.
Also up for auction will be stolen items that were never claimed by a victim, or whose owners were never located.
Det. Rick Krueger, of the Niles Police Department, said proceeds from civil forfeitures would go back to the department for use in fighting drug crimes. The rest of the money collected will go to the city’s general fund.
“You can pick up a $200 bike for $25. That is what a lot of people show up for.”
The auction is scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 9, at the Niles Law Enforcement Complex, which is located at 1600 Silverbrook Ave., in Niles.
Attendees are asked to park in the front parking lot and then follow signage to the auction area in the back parking lot. People can view the items no sooner than 9 a.m. Saturday.
The auction generates approximately $5,000, depending on the year, according to police.
“It is usually a good turnout,” Krueger said. “We can have around a couple hundred to almost no one if the weather is bad.”
Although the department did not make a list of the items being auction off, Krueger provided a summary:
• Five vehicles (2000 Audi A8, 2000 GMC Yukon, 1986 Chevrolet truck, 2005 Chevrolet Impala, 2003 Hyundai Tiburon, 2005 Chevrolet)
• Cell phones
• Electronics
• Speakers
• iRobot vacuum
• Laptops
• 50 bicycles
• Speakers
• DJ mixing board
• Microphone