Police Close the Book on Colorado's 'Literary Litterbug'

The mystery of the Boulder “book tosser” has been solved. Erin Blakemore from the Smithsonianreports that police ticketed Glenn Pladsen for tossing books out of his car window for the past several months.

In case you haven’t been following this local literary story out of Boulder, Colorado, here’s the summary: Since February, police have been responding to reports of a “literary litterbug” tossing hundreds of books along Boulder’s Highway 287. Books that were in fair condition, with seemingly no motive for being tossed aside. Over 600 books have littered the shoulder in the past month, and police report cleanup crews have recorded over 20 hours spent trying to collect the disposed collection.

The police said in a press release:

“On the surface it may seem like a petty thing, but you can’t judge a book by its cover.”

But, as of April 23rd, police were happy to report they were able to write “the final chapter in this annoying story.” Finally having a motive for this most devious literary crime since 50 Shades of Grey, Pladsen explained that he didn’t know how else to dispose of the books. Not a theory some of us (read: me) had considered.

Pladsen said he fell into a large collection of books after a used bookstore in Boulder closed down. After purchasing the store’s stock, his intention was to sell the books on Amazon, hoping to turn a nice profit from his venture. But Pladsen said that his attempts failed, blaming Amazon, long working hours, and arthritis for his misfortune. So, he began throwing his collection out the window onto Highway 287.

Police ticketed him for the crime with a, no doubt, hefty fine, and Pladsen promised to stop his book tossing.