As a kid with a bad streak and a serious addiction to nicotine, I was no stranger to the art of stealing cigarettes. Usually it was a cigarette or three from someone’s pack. Sometimes it was a full pack. The following Washington thief takes it to an entirely new level.

He did not just steal a pack of cigarettes, but has stolen cigarettes 28 times. The cigarettes were worth about $100,000 . All of the thefts were from Costco stores. As reported in www.timescolonist.com.

It looks like he stole one time too many. Christopher Sharafi was arrested by police after a sting investigation.

The thief lurked in the parking lots at Costco outlets and followed those who purchased large quantities of cigarettes — all small business people — to their destinations.

The cigarettes were then stolen from the victims’ vehicles. Ten of the 28 thefts occurred on Vancouver Island.

After a number of eyewitness accounts they figured out he drove a brown Pontiac Montana van using a variety of stolen license plates.

They ran a search and came up with a few suspects.

The man was placed under surveillance. Police watched as the man stayed in his parked vehicle at the Nanaimo Costco for six hours. He was there until closing time and there again the next morning when the store opened.

No theft occurred. The man returned to Costco at 3 p.m. and followed a vehicle to a nearby restaurant. The vehicle owner went in the restaurant, and officers watched the man break into the car and steal $3,200 worth of cigarettes.

The 46-year-old is charged with 13 offences including four counts each of mischief under $5,000 and theft under $5,000, two counts of possession of stolen property and possession of break-in instruments.

One begs to ask why Sharafi stole cigarettes. I hope he is mandated to a good 16 hour theft class.