Man Steals Big Bag Of Books From Self-Service Bookstore “Books n Bobs” With Coffee To Boot

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A self-service second-hand bookstore, “Books n Bobs” in Taman Desa, was recently the target of a theft yesterday (17 February) afternoon.

Based on the shop’s Facebook page, a man entered the bookshop around 11.50am. By 12.37pm, the man walked out with a big bag of books and a cup of coffee without paying.

The crime was captured on CCTV and witnessed by another customer in the shop. The bookstore owner believes the crime was pre-meditated and calculated due to the way the thief behaved.

This was because the thief entered the shop minutes after the staff went for his lunch break, suggesting the thief had observed when the staff’s movements from the days before.

The thief also went right to the section where he got the books from and only took about 40 minutes to help himself to the books just as the staff returned to the shop.

It’s estimated that the bookstore lost around RM150 to RM200 from the theft.

The bookstore owner said he had anticipated the risks of opening a self-service bookshop, but lamented society’s moral decay. The theft also revealed a lack of self-governance in some people.

The bookstore sells second-hand books at low prices, starting from RM1, with most books within the range of RM7 to RM25.

The owner said if the man could not pay for the books, they could have had a conversation to work out a bulk-buying deal.

The owner added that they recognised the thief since he had been to the bookstore before. Anyone with more information regarding the thief’s identity is urged to contact the bookshop.

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