Police Bust College Textbook Theft Ring

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — An employee at an off-campus bookstore discovered a theft ring that used doctored textbooks to make quick cash from the Georgia Gwinnett College library, police said.Four people are accused of orchestrating the plan that involved taking books from the library and cashing them in at Dorks Textbooks in Lawrenceville.

Police told Channel 2’s Kerry Kavanaugh that Brittany O’Mealy, Johnathon Cooper, Joshua Leverette and a fourth unidentified suspect stole books right off the shelves of the library then used a black marker to cover the college stamp.

It was an observant employee at Dorks Textbooks who spotted the word college and notified police. Investigators said the doctored textbooks carried a value of $1,700. Officers also said they recovered more stolen text books in Cooper’s dorm room at Georgia Gwinnett College. An employee at the bookstore told Kavanaugh they saw the suspects inside the store several times.

Student Grace Meggison donated her books to the school library. She said she was upset about the news.

“If somebody has to go there and steal, they’re hurting us,” Meggison said. “If they have to replace the books, that comes down to us.”