Man caught driving stolen Toyota 4-runner within 24 hours of being convicted of theft: Abbotsford police

A handout photo shows a stolen Toyota 4-Runner that was recovered by Abbotsford police on Saturday, March 25. Albert Fontaine, 47, and a female passenger were arrested at the scene, but police later released the woman. (Abbotsford Police Department)

An Abbotsford man was arrested on Saturday after police say he was caught driving a stolen vehicle, less than 24-hours after he was charged in another theft.

When plainclothes officers spotted a stolen Toyota 4-Runner around 6:15 p.m., they “covertly followed” it for 600 metres before the male driver got out and attempted to flee on foot, according to Abbotsford police.

“The driver, identified as 47-year-old Albert Fontaine, was noted to be impaired by alcohol as well as breaching numerous conditions of his conditional sentence order,” police wrote in a statement Monday.

“At the time of Mr. Fontaine’s arrest, he had just been convicted of Possession of Stolen Property, which involved another stolen vehicle. Still, he was released back into our community not 24 hours earlier on a Conditional Sentence Order,” reads the release.

A woman who was in the stolen 4-Runner with Fontaine was arrested at the scene, but police say she was later released.

Fontaine remained in custody over the weekend and is set to appear in court for his bail hearing on Monday, Abbotsford police told CTV News.

He’s facing charges of possession of stolen property, impaired operation of a motor vehicle, refusal, breach of release order and driving while prohibited, according to police.