John Atwater's Blog

We depend on them for guidance through daunting stacks of books, but suburban librarians have become prey.  Thieves have targeted at least three librarians in Chester and Montgomery counties in the last few weeks.   They wait for the librarians to get distracted and then rifle through their wallets.  They swiftly exit and emerge with one to three cards.  Within a half-hour, they're at a local store, police say, wracking up quite a bill.

Here are surveillance photos which police say shows them entering a library, leaving it, and then popping up at a Target store:

(Above: one of the suspects entering a library in Upper Dublin Twsp.)

(Above: the three suspects leave the library about 30 minutes later)

(Above: the female suspect leaving a nearby Target store with a cart brimming with what police say are fraudulent purchases)