MANHATTAN — Police used an under cover sting to catch three people accused of stealing over $1,000 worth of books from an Upper West Side Barnes & Noble book store on Sunday, the New York Post reported.
Police set up the sting after the Barnes & Noble store located across from Lincoln Center at Broadway and W. 67th Street reported an unusually large amount of books had gone missing.
Undercover officers sprung into action Sunday after Gowan Johnson, 36, was allegedly spotted stuffing books into a large duffel bag and left the store without paying for them, police said.
Police followed Johnson as he jumped onto a city bus heading for the Upper East Side. Johnson then hopped onto the subway and rode up to 86th and Lexington Avenue, the Post reported.
Johnson allegedly received money for the books from Mark Yearwood, 49, and Leanora Richards, 68, who then put the books in a van. That's when police moved in and arrested all three, the paper reported.
Police recovered $1,085 worth of books in the duffel bag and over $5,000 worth of stolen books in the van. Richards allegedly told police she sold stolen books at a discount, the Post reported.
