An off-duty McCandless police officer saw three people attempt to rob a Sunoco gas station at Perry Highway and Cumberland Road yesterday, and chased them as they fled into the nearby Northland Library.
Other police converged on the library and, after ordering it evacuated of more than 75 patrons and staff, took the suspects -- all juveniles -- into custody, dispatchers said.
No one was injured, and, said a police spokeswoman, "nobody was in any danger."
The incident lasted just a little more than a half hour.
"It started at 2:39 and ended at 3:10," the police spokeswoman said. "All three are on their way to county jail."
There were about 50 to 60 patrons in the library with about 10 to 15 staff, a circulation department employee said.
First Published: October 13, 2008, 4:00 a.m.