Viral Walgreens shoplifter busted during repeat performance

It was a video that left the nation collectively scratching its head.

A man pluckily fills a garbage bag with wares on film at a San Francisco Walgreens – all under the nose of a security guard-cum-cameraman – before calmly navigating an exit route that bypassed the checkout.

What is society coming to when crooks can commit such brazen acts unchallenged and with no apparent consequences, many wondered.

Well now, at least, it seems even Golden Gate City has its limits – and the cycling shoplifter may have ridden his luck one time too many.

The suspected thief was arrested over the weekend while (you guessed it) allegedly trying to steal from another drugstore in San Francisco, police said.

Jean Lugo-Romero, 40, was busted Saturday morning inside a business on Haight Street with about $978 worth of cosmetics that cops say he planned to pilfer, according to a statement from San Francisco police.

Officers followed Lugo-Romero into the store, where, true to his M.O., he allegedly started shoving the goods into a duffel bag – an upgrade from last week’s garbage sack.

Lugo-Romero was being sought in connection with a string of drugstore thefts, police said.

That includes the viral masterclass at Walgreens, where he swept the contents of an entire shelf into a garbage bag before pedaling past a store security guard who apparently never received a job description.

The crazy crime was filmed and posted on Twitter, where it racked up millions of views, triggering debate about laws in the city that, to many, effectively give shoplifters a free pass.

California’s controversial Proposition 47, approved by nearly 60% of voters in the state in November 2014, reduced the penalty for stealing goods worth $950 or less from a felony to a misdemeanor, punishable by mere months in county jail rather than years in state prison.

Even so, Lugo-Romero’s purple patch couldn’t last forever.

He was taken into custody without incident during Saturday’s alleged escapade, police said.

Lugo-Romero was booked into the San Francisco County Jail on suspicion of attempted grand theft, entering a business with the intent to commit theft and possession of narcotics paraphernalia.

He is being held in lieu of $25,000 bail. He also had an outstanding warrant for missing a court date for a previous theft case, police said.