A Paterson man whom police say stole items from the CVS Pharmacy on River Road on two separate occasions over the weekend, was apprehended following the second attempt, Sgt. Richard Schultz said.

Jason Lee, 40, was charged with two counts of shoplifting and one count of possession of drug paraphernalia Sunday after an officer tracked him down in Paterson, near 2nd Avenue and 24th Street, following the second reported shoplifting from the River Road CVS in as many days, police said.

Police responded to a call from the pharmacy Friday that a shoplifter had fled the store on foot with four bagged bottles of Tide laundry detergent, but were unable to locate the suspect at the time.

Two days later, a shoplifter -- whom police say turned out to be the same shoplifter -- struck again. This time, equipped with a physical description, direction of flight and type of items stolen, the nearby Officer Joseph Mecionis quickly apprehended the suspect in Paterson -- later identified as Lee -- and transported him back to police headquarters, Schultz said.

Police reports state that, through his investigation, Mecionis determined that Lee was the same man who had stolen detergent from the pharmacy two days earlier.

Lee was formally charged with shoplifting and possession of drug paraphernalia and remanded to Bergen County Jail in lieu of $2,500 bail with no 10 percent option.

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