Kristopher Flint, 45, of Burrit Avenue, who was arrested in a similar crime about a year ago, was charged with sixth-degree larceny, police said.
He was held on $5,000 bond and was scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 16.
On Nov. 14, at about 4:20 p.m., a loss prevention officer at the store told police that he saw a man walk out of the store without paying for a large amount of soap, so he followed him to the parking lot to get him to come back inside, police said.
But the suspect dropped the merchandise and fled in a vehicle, police said.
The store employee gave police the license plate number and surveillance footage of the suspect. The car was register to Flint, and police discovered they had arrested him in December 2015 in a similar crime.
Officers compared the Stop & Shop footage to the 2015 booking photo, found a match and sought an arrest warrant, police said.
On Dec. 6, Flint was taken into custody by the Stratford Police Department and turned over to Westport officers.
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