Crime Blotter: Man Arrested for Overdue Library Books

March 4, 2005 -- -- A Washington State man is arrested for overdue library books; a man who was found naked and covered in cheese last summer pleads guilty; and another man allegedly tries to break into an Alabama jail. Always expect the unexpected in "The Crime Blotter."

BURLINGTON, Wash. -- A Burlington man has been ordered to pay a library $150 and do community service after he was arrested for overdue library books.

Jeremy Jones was arrested for failure to appear before a judge to answer charges of "detaining property." The property referred to library books Jones had checked out last July.

Jones' arrest came after he called Burlington police to his apartment recently to report an incidence of mail theft. Police ran a background check and told Jones and his girlfriend that there was a warrant for his arrest for the overdue books.

Jones insisted he tried to give his overdue library books to police.

"They wouldn't even take them. That kind of irked me," he told ABC News affiliate KOMO-TV in Washington. "I told them they are right on the table, take them. They said 'No, we have a warrant, we have to arrest you.'"

"They handcuffed him." said Jones' friend Misty Colburn. "He didn't put up a fight or anything, but they handcuffed him and went away."

The title of one of the books Jones failed to return is "Mysteries of the Unexplained: How ordinary men and women have experienced strange things."

Jones was released after spending an hour at the county jail. He thought his arrest was a drastic move.

"I'm sorry, they are books for crying out loud. If it was a computer part or a CD or something, I could understand," Colburn said. "I could see them revoking my library privileges, but having me arrested is a little bit extreme."

The library insisted no one wanted to arrest anyone, and tried repeatedly to get its books back from Jones. Librarian Christine Perkins said the warrant was issued after Jones didn't show up for a court hearing. She said the library didn't send out the police and that officers just did a normal check for outstanding warrants.

Perkins suspects Jones' arrest could have an upside. "Well, I'm interested to see if we get a lot of books turned in the next week or so."