Greensburg library scuffle injures director; police seek couple

The director of the Greensburg Hempfield Area Library was injured Wednesday afternoon while blocking a married couple who allegedly tried to steal a Christmas novel.

[...]

Muccari said he was near the entrance for the 4:22 p.m. incident because he was posting tax forms on a bulletin board by the metal detector when the alarm went off as Jennifer Cook walked through.

He determined that a book in her bag was her own, but discovered that she was concealing a copy of "Finding Noel" in the front pocket of her hooded sweatshirt.

"She said, 'I wasn't trying to steal it,' and I said, 'Oh really?' " Muccari said.

When Muccari asked a clerk to call police, Jennifer Cook offered up the book, said she had to be someplace and asked him to cancel the police call, Muccari said.

Although David Cook initially claimed not to know about the attempted theft, he pushed Muccari as the couple tried to flee, police Capt. George Seranko said.

Police were able to identify the Cooks because the man left behind his wallet and the woman left behind a broken, silver necklace with a charm bearing the name "Jennifer." Police have been unable to locate the couple.

I love the details the reporter puts into the story, such as the quote from the judge who married the Cooks.  I looked up the opening of "Finding Noel" on Amazon, and found this:

When I was a boy, my mother told me that everyone comes into our lives for a reason. I'm not sure I believe that's true. The thought of God weaving millions of lives together into a grand human tapestry seems a bit fatalistic to me. Still, as I look back at my life, there seem to be times when such divinity is apparent.... Of course such a theory carried to the extreme would mean that God sabotaged my car that night because, had my car's timing belt not broken at that precise moment, this story never would have happened. But it did, and my life was forever changed. Perhaps my mother was right. If God can align the planets, maybe He can do the same for our lives.

Maybe the Cooks should have thought about that before their little encounter with Muccari.