Pictured: the library's security camera captures three suspects in Sunday's burglary of the Altadena Library.
The main Altadena Library, 600 E. Mariposa, was hit by burglars for the second time in ten days Sunday night, sustaining a broken window and the loss of two new cash registers that were purchased to replace the ones stolen Dec. 2.
According to Steve Marsh, the library's network support specialist, the library's security cameras caught three burglars trying to enter via a fire escape in the back about 7:20 PM Sunday. Marsh says the burglars froze when a couple with a little girl showed up to look through the pile of donated books, and were scared away by a car coming into the parking lot. After the car departed, they resumed about 7:43 PM.
A minute later, they broke a narrow window with a baseball bat, then ran off again after the noise to the vicinity of the Altadena Senior Center next door, returning about ten minutes later.
According to the tape, they entered the building about 7:55, and were out with the cash registers five minutes later.
Library staff discovered the burglary about 7:30 this morning. The smashed cash registers were found in the Senior Center parking lot.
According to Marsh -- who was making a copy of the video recordings for the sheriffs -- there was "virtually nothing" in the cash registers, one of which was for library fees and fines, and the other for Friends of the Library bookstore purchases.
The cash registers were brand new, purchased to replace two that were taken in a burglary the evening of Dec. 2. In that burglary, a patio window was shattered to allow entry.
