Photo: CTV

A Courtenay man was arrested after using a hammer to break into an adult boutique to steal a foot-long rubber sex toy.

Surveillance cameras at Sexy Kitten Boutique caught a man appearing to be in his sixties break in on Jan. 10.

Store owner Janel Debalinhard said the man grabbed a pair of panties on the way out, but dropped them outside.

She told CTV she instantly recognized the man.

“He came in multiple times to look at it, and actually to measure it, and then he left one afternoon and said he'd be back,” Debalinhard said.

The toy he was sizing up then sold, and the man stole a significantly larger one.

Police arrested the man after Debalinhard spotted him downtown, Tuesday.

– with files from CTV Vancouver Island