Pair suspected of ruining copies of Quran at library

Santa Fe Public Library workers told police a man and woman who had been causing trouble at the south-side branch may have urinated on three copies of Islam’s sacred book and damaged former President Bill Clinton’s 2004 autobiography, My Life.

Library workers also suspect the couple may have taken books by conservative commentator Ann Coulter and copies of the Bible and “laid [them] around the library, as if they were placed on display for all to see,” according to a police report released Monday.

Leslie Simmons, manager of the library’s south-side branch, told police Friday the couple caused trouble when they first starting visiting March 2. Simmons told police she and another staff member found three versions of the Quran damaged “by a yellowish liquid substance.”

Video footage did not confirm the couple ever handled the books, and Santa Fe police said DNA testing on the books would be inconclusive given that countless people could have handled them.

On March 3, library staff asked the couple to move their vehicle, a white Ford F-250 truck towing a white double-axle trailer, from the library’s parking lot, according to a police report.

The man “scoffed” at the library staffer “and began muttering about how everything is under ‘surveillance,’ ” reads the police report. On March 6, the male came into the library carrying a “large knife, sheathed, on his belt,” the report says. He became “irate” when he was told to put the knife back into the vehicle, saying he had the right to bear arms.

The couple’s truck bore a Wyoming license plate. But Santa Fe police Officer Pablo Felix III wrote that he was unable to match the plate numbers with the vehicle in law enforcement databases. Since he had no further suspect information, he concluded his investigation.