The guy above is Timothy Hammond. Some people call him...Tim. If Tim looks a bit ashamed and irritated in the photo above, he should be. The criminal mastermind was busted by the police for stealing a set of encyclopedias and trying to sell them on Craigslist.
From News 9:
Police arrest a man who admitted he stole an entire set of Encyclopedias then tried to sell them online.
Timothy William Hammond, 24, faces one count of concealing stolen property. According to court documents, Hammond stole a 2012 set of the World Book Encyclopedia, 22 volumes, from the Metropolitan Library System in Edmond.
When library staff noticed they were missing, they logged onto Craigslist and found the books listed for sale.
Police said Hammond told officers he was a former employee of the library and just needed the money.
First of all, angry Internet commentor dude, I'm aware that the kid who had a report due on space pitched the Encyclopedia Britannica. Cut me some slack here. That headline was just too good to turn down.
Since that's out-of-the-way, I guess I should go ahead and explain to Chelsea and our younger readers what an "encyclopedia" is. According to Wikipedia (ironic, huh), "an encyclopedia s a type of reference work, a compendium holding a summary of information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge." Yeah, I don't know what that means either. Watch this instead:
Okay, so that also doesn't explain very well what an encyclopedia is. At least you were able to acquaint yourself with a pop culture reference from the late-1980s. Life could be worse.
Anyway, I know it's tempting to make fun of Tim for trying to steal a new encyclopedia set, but a 2012 World Book is fetching $1,200 on Amazon. If anything, I'd give the guy an A for innovation. The problem, though, is that Tim STOLE AN ENCYCLOPEDIA SET!!! He would have been better off going after phone books and Palm Pilots. The only people looking to buy an encyclopedia set are the librarians you stole it from. Get a clue, Sherlock.
