Chip Removed from Theft Prevention Device in CCTV Blind Spot and Taken Out
"I Wanted to Read Books but Stole Because I Had No Money"
A man in his 40s who stole 1,500 books from eight public libraries over the course of more than two years was arrested by the police.
On the 20th, the Gwangju Nambu Police Station sent Mr. A, a day laborer in his 40s, to prosecution on theft charges. Mr. A is accused of stealing about 1,500 books from eight municipal and district libraries in the Gwangju area from September 2021 to last August.
In September 2021, Mr. A visited the Gwangju Municipal Sajik Library near the lodging where he lived. He took books borrowed from this library to his residence and did not return them by the due date. When he returned to borrow books again from the same library, he was classified as a long-term defaulter and was unable to borrow more books.
From then on, Mr. A’s book thefts began. He removed the anti-theft electronic tags (RFID) attached to the covers of books he wanted to read in blind spots of the library’s closed-circuit television (CCTV) to avoid triggering the anti-theft alarm. The removed electronic tags were hidden between bookshelves or among books. At the time, 2 to 3 staff members were working in the library’s reading room but did not notice his thefts.
Mr. A visited the library after work or on his days off. Initially, he stole only one or two books at a time, but his crimes became bolder over time. Eventually, he prepared a large bag in advance and stole 10 to 20 books at once. Using this method, he stole over 1,100 books from Sajik Library alone over two years. If the books he wanted were not available at this library, he went to nearby district libraries in Nam-gu’s Juwol and Bongseon-dong, and even as far as municipal and district libraries in Dong-gu and Seo-gu to get the books he wanted.
Mr. A’s crimes were uncovered when library staff found bundles of torn-off electronic tags between the bookshelves. In September, the police received reports of suspected book thefts at two libraries in the Gwangju area. The library’s security guards cross-checked visitors and identified Mr. A as a suspect. The security guards’ analysis of CCTV footage was crucial in apprehending Mr. A.
Mr. A was arrested on the 4th of last month in a rented room at a lodging in Juwol-dong, Nam-gu, Gwangju. At the time of his arrest, books stolen from libraries were reportedly stacked up to the ceiling in a corner of his approximately 26.4㎡ (about 8 pyeong) room. He admitted to his crimes, saying, "Reading brings me peace. I wanted to read books but had no money, so I stole them." Mr. A had been wanted by the police for failing to respond to a summons after breaking into a restaurant and stealing cash last year.
The police awarded certificates of appreciation to the security guards who helped capture Mr. A and returned the stolen books to the eight libraries.
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