Man rearrested for stealing cosmetics days after allegedly taking 47 pairs of yoga pants from Vancouver store

Vancouver -

Just days after a man was arrested then released for reportedly stealing dozens of yoga pants from a downtown Vancouver store, police say that same man was taken into custody again for another alleged theft.

In a news release Monday, police said a man and a woman allegedly took 47 pairs of yoga pants, valued at $5,783, from a Robson Street store on Friday. They said staff called 911 and "safely followed the suspects" until police got to the scene.

Then in an update Tuesday, Vancouver police said the same man was arrested again for another alleged theft on Robson Street. This time, police said, the man reportedly took more than $730 from a cosmetics store the previous night.

Police said the 44-year-old suspect has 103 prior criminal conviction, 38 of which are for theft. After the first incident, police said the man was breaching five court orders for previous thefts. The woman he was with was also violating a court order that prohibited her from entering the store she had stolen from.

"Most of these thefts are being fuelled by chronic offenders who are living with complex social needs, including addiction, poverty and mental illness," Sgt. Steve Addison said in Tuesday's written update.

"Sadly, we're seeing many of these stolen items sold on the street, often in the Downtown Eastside, for pennies on the dollar."

Police said they returned more than $4,000 in stolen items Monday night. Addison told CTV Morning Live earlier that morning officers have seen "a significant increase in property crime," mischief and seemingly random assaults.

"We know that these crimes are hugely underreported and we're encouraging people to phone the police whenever they see crime or experience crime so that we can deploy officers and investigate it properly," Addison said.

"If we don't hear about it, we can't do our job, which is to investigate and hold people accountable."

However, Addison said the issues are complex and aren't things they can "solve overnight."

"We're working with the community, whether they be people who live in the community, people who work in the community, people who own businesses in the community, and we're doing what we can to address what we're hearing from people is a decreased feeling of safety in the neighbourhood," Addison said.