A 42-year-old man was arrested Thursday morning after he allegedly tried to steal four textbooks from the U Campus Store.
Store clerk Dallin Rempp said the man was walking around the magazines and bargain bins in the bookstore with textbooks under his arm at about 10 a.m. when he tried to sneak out of the store without paying for the books.
Rempp and manager Drew Goodman caught up with him just outside the building.
Rempp said the thief looked startled that someone was behind him.
“I took the books from him and said we gotta see a receipt for them…then he swore and took off,” Rempp said.
Goodman and another manager chased the man across Presidents’ Circle and caught up with him at 1300 East. He ran down a side street by B&D Burgers, but was caught in the alley.
Campus police arrived a few minutes later and arrested the man, who was identified as Charles Hughes.
The textbooks were worth about $450 total.
Hughes told campus police that he planned to sell them.
“It’s money, if he can steal the books and take them and resell them,” said Sergeant Arbon Nordgran of the U police department.
Police cited Hughes for theft, but could not put him in jail because he had sores on his arm that prevented him from being jailed without medical clearance.
Hughes was released and is awaiting charges.
Charles Hughes