Library Thief is a Crip: Cops
Thursday, Sep 10, 2009 | Updated 2:15 PM EDT
Getty Images
One woman police suspect in a bunch of brazen library thefts is a street gang member, police said.
A woman who police say is a member of a New York street gang has been arrested in connection with a a brazen library theft in New Hartford.
New York City police arrested Dashia Bennett, 23, on Sept. 1 in Brooklyn, N.Y., with some help from police officers from Middlebury, West Hartford, Greenwich, Connecticut State Police and West Springfield, Mass., the Waterbury Republican-American reports.
Those departments are all investigating Bennett and another woman for similar robberies in libraries.
Bennett, who is from Brooklyn, N.Y. is one of two suspects accused of stealing a credit card from an employee of the Bakerville Public Library in New Hartford on Aug. 5.
During that robbery, one woman approached a librarian as if she were asking about a book. The other woman went to a room containing library employees' purses and stole credit cards, New Hartford police said.
The women are accused of charging more than $1,600 on the stolen card.
Bennett is a member of the Crips street gang and has a violent history, police told the Republican-American.
Authorities from several Connecticut towns are actively working on the case and say they hope to make more arrests soon.
