Woman Tries to Sell Books Across Street From Where She Stole Them

Are criminals just not trying these days?

Yesterday, Patch told you about this guy, , less than two months after trying to kick in a glass door of a convenient store in an attempt to make off with more smokes.

Perhaps in an attempt to upstage that act of, um, questionable judgment, is a 22-year-old West Allis woman, who allegedly tried to get away with shoplifting an armful of books at , 4935 S. 76th St., on June 21.

According to the report, the woman grabbed Security Deluxe Study Guide, valued at $79.99, and four other books valued at $45 or more. The retail total for the five books was $274.97.

The woman made no attempt to conceal the books – she just walked toward the exit quickly and out the door to her SUV.

What’s more, the woman wasted no time in trying to unload the hot goods. She immediately drove across 76th Street to , 5032 S. 74th St. — yes, the Half Price Books less than a quarter of a mile away.

But while she waited for a price quote from the resale store, she was arrested by Greenfield Police Department Det. Chuck Fletcher, who investigates transactions from resale businesses throughout the city. Clearly not his first retail theft rodeo, Fletcher went to Half Price Books when dispatchers received the initial call from Barnes and Noble.

The woman, who was cited for retail theft, admitted to Fletcher that she had stolen the books and hoped to sell them to fund her heroin and methadone addictions.