ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 7, 1996 TAG: 9601090021
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
A man suspected of stealing rare documents from the University of Virginia library is in custody in Florida.
Gilbert J. Bland, 46, surrendered to police Tuesday in Coral Springs after learning of three warrants issued by UVa police in December in the theft of maps from books at the Alderman Library.
The stolen documents - rare maps and prints taken from three 17th-century books and valued at $5,000 - have not been found, UVa police investigator Tom Durrer said.
Bland's lawyer, Ira Still, said his client was ``very embarrassed, frightened and upset'' by the charges.
Bland was caught with a rare map Dec. 7 and held briefly at the Peabody Library in Baltimore. He was released after paying several hundred dollars in cash for the damage. After he was released, Johns Hopkins University officials realized other books had been damaged.
In addition to UVa and Peabody, Bland is suspected in thefts from six university libraries in North Carolina, Chicago and Providence, R.I. Librarians at those universities say someone using the alias James Perry and a fake University of Florida student identification cut maps from books in their collections.
The FBI also is investigating, although no federal charges have been filed.
Bland and his wife had operated a small rare-maps shop in Tamarac, Fla., near Fort Lauderdale. The shop was closed and emptied after Bland was caught in Baltimore.
Bland is being held in Broward County Jail pending extradition to Virginia, where he has a Jan. 17 court date in Albemarle County.
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