Arizona couple checked out $6,200 worth of library books they never returned. Then they tried selling them to a used bookstore

A married couple from Mesa, Arizona, is facing criminal charges after police say they checked out thousands of dollars’ worth of books from a public library and never returned them. Instead, officers say the pair resold hundreds of the books to a local used bookstore.

Ian Bartlett, 36, and Athena Bartlett, 33, were arrested at the Mesa Public Library, according to the Mesa Police Department. Library staff spotted the couple inside the building and called the police, who came and took them into custody.

Both were booked on charges of theft, a class four felony, and trafficking stolen property, a class two felony, police said. According to ABC News, the case had been under investigation for several months before the arrest took place.

A bookstore tip led investigators back to two library accounts

According to police, the case began after a report filed on Tuesday, May 19, by the Mesa Public Library. The library said a man and a woman had tried to sell a large number of books, still carrying library labels, to a local secondhand bookstore. Library-related incidents have also been discussed in politics lately, as Donald Trump released renderings for his proposed Presidential Library.

Bookstore employees told the pair they could not buy library books, since the labels showed the books belonged to the library and were not the sellers’ property to sell. The two left the store after being turned away, police said. The bookstore then reported the incident to the library.

Library staff reviewed the books that had been brought in and traced them back to an account under Ian Bartlett’s name. Police said that the account had already been blocked after about $1,565 worth of books were checked out and never brought back.

As detectives dug deeper, they found a second library account, also opened under Ian Bartlett’s name. That account had 66 books listed as outstanding. Of those, 19 were later recovered at the bookstore where the couple had tried to sell them, according to police.

Police also said Athena Bartlett had carried out five separate transactions at the bookstore between Thursday, May 7, and Thursday, May 14. Those five transactions involved a total of 423 books, authorities said.

In total, police said the unreturned books across both accounts were valued at about $6,200. Detectives are continuing to investigate the case, and authorities said they believe there are still a number of stolen Mesa Public Library books that have not yet been recovered or accounted for. Disputes over public property have occurred elsewhere, like when an Arizona woman claimed a public street was hers and argued with a road worker who explained it wasn’t. 

Mesa police are asking anyone who thinks they may have unknowingly bought one of the stolen library books, or who currently has one of the missing books, to contact the department. Detectives said they can help confirm whether a specific book is connected to this case.