Butler police took a bite out of crime after nabbing a suspected sandwich thief.

Frances B. Coy, 54, of Butler was caught Thursday before he could eat of all the evidence — three breakfast sandwiches stolen from the A-Plus convenience store on West Jefferson Street, police said.

The repeat shoplifter landed in the Butler County Prison following his purported hungry heist.

Coy is accused of taking the sandwiches from a warmer. A city police officer happened to be in the store about 8:15 a.m. when the crime was discovered.

The officer took after him, and Coy was stopped a short time later in the 300 block of West Birch Street. A search yielded one of the sandwiches in his jacket.

But police accused him of taking all three sandwiches, worth a combined $6.76.

Already with a pair of shoplifting convictions, he was arraigned on a felony count of retail theft.

While normally a summary or misdemeanor offense, retail theft is upgraded to a third-degree felony when a defendant has at least two prior arrests for the same crime.

Coy, who also is charged with simple assault in an unrelated arrest in Butler last month, remains jailed on $15,000 bail.