North Carolina Woman Accused of
Selling Stolen Books
Police have issued a warrant for the arrest of a Catawba, North Carolina, woman on charges of stealing books from area public libraries. More than 900 books were confiscated May 30 from the home of April Angela Bumgarner, the operator of an online bookstore called Angela’s Attic, and many of them were stamped as the property of a dozen different public libraries, according to the June 1 Charlotte Observer.
Justin Crooks of the Catawba County sheriff’s department said he began an investigation after receiving a tip from another area bookseller who had employed Bumgarner until May 3 and noticed many copies of hard-to-find children’s books identified as ex-library copies in her Web listings. Angela’s Attic has been registered since March with the Advanced Book Exchange at abebooks.com.
Police claim that Bumgarner checked books out in her own name, but used fake addresses to obtain library cards. More than 100 had been checked out from libraries in Alexander and Burke counties.
ABE Director of Customer Service Sue Connors told the Observer that customers who inadvertently purchased a stolen library book through their service would receive a refund on its return.
Posted June 4, 2001.
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