# @downinnadesert on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/Db9necbG-iz
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/69746418-downinnadesert-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/d347008a89.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-08-13T02:00:57.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Down In The Desert🌵 (@downinnadesert) — https://gondola.cc/downinnadesert

## Caption

It fell apart because somebody at a bookstore looked at the labels.

Court records say a woman walked into a Half Price Books near Power and Southern in Mesa on May 19 with 19 books still carrying Mesa Public Library labels and barcodes. The store refused to buy them and called the library. The pair left the books on the counter and walked out.

The library scanned them and traced them back to Ian Bartlett. He had two accounts, one already suspended over unreturned books and another with 66 outstanding. The bookstore then handed police five receipts showing 423 books sold under Athena Bartlett’s name. The library put the total outstanding at $6,287.42.

On Aug. 10 library staff spotted the couple inside the Red Mountain branch and called police. Court records say Ian told investigators they’d check the books out on their own accounts and she’d sell them. Both are homeless, both are charged with trafficking in stolen property and theft, and neither has been convicted.

A bookstore clerk and a library employee pieced this whole thing together. Somebody give them a raise.

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#Mesa #Arizona #EastValley #ArizonaNews #DownInnaDesert

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 3,259
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 127

## Tags

downinnadesert, arizonanews, mesa, arizona, eastvalley

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