Think you can get away with not returning that overdue book to your library? Think again. A Texas man was arrested and jailed after he failed to return an overdue study guide to his local library. According to KWTX.com, the man was booked by police and hit with a $200 fine for a book he had taken out in 2010.
Jory C. Enck, a Copperas Cove, Texas resident, was arrested on Oct. 23 when he failed to return a GED study guide. Police released him on a $200 bond and given a court date, Fox News reported.
According to Copperas Cove City Municipal Judge Bill Price, Enck was booked on a law that passed close to four years ago to offset the cost of replacing library property. “No one wants to get arrested over a library book,” Price told KWTX. “The other side of that is people who go to our library and can’t have these materials, they’re put out, too.”
Fox News reported that a person must have a library book out for at least 90 days and not be responding to phone calls or emails before it’s turned over to local law enforcement. However, Copperas Cove Police Sgt. Julie Lehmann explained that officers will make an arrest for overdue library books if they discover active warrants during a routine stop or call.
Lehmann also noted that while the arrests aren’t frequent, they have happened in the past. “It’s not like this is the first time,” she told Fox News.
According to KWTV, a book similar to the one Enck had taken out was back in the library. The book contained his library card and library records show that he made the return a day after his arrest.