Man with 25-year record charged in high-end Boston shoplifting spree

A Boston man was arraigned Friday in Boston Municipal Court in connection with a series of alleged retail thefts at several high-end Back Bay stores, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said.

Peter Cutelis, 40, faces four counts of larceny over $1,200, as well as charges of possessing Class A, B, and C substances. He is also charged with being a “common and notorious thief,” a legal designation used in cases involving repeated allegations of theft. Cutelis has a history of theft- and trespassing-related offenses dating back to 2001, according to Hayden’s office.

A judge set bail at $2,500 and ordered Cutelis to stay away from the stores involved. He was also held without bail on a fugitive from justice charge out of Brentwood, New Hampshire, related to a failure to appear. Cutelis is due back in court on March 6 for a probable cause hearing.

Prosecutors say the incidents took place over several days in November and involved stores along Newbury Street and at the Prudential Center.

On Nov. 12, Boston police officers saw a man later identified as Cutelis enter the Lululemon store at 208 Newbury St., take clothing valued at about $1,556, and leave without paying, according to prosecutors. Officers stopped him outside and recovered the items.

During the arrest, Cutelis went limp and fell to the ground and told officers he had taken drugs, authorities said. Police said they recovered fentanyl, crack cocaine, and clonazepam from a glove in his pocket.

Four days later, officers were called to Ralph Lauren at 93 Newbury St. after a reported theft. Store employees shared surveillance footage of a man, later identified as Cutelis, allegedly taking two leather jackets, a cashmere sweater, and a leather bag valued at roughly $4,400 before leaving the store.

Two days after that, police were again called to the same location for another reported theft, this time involving three jackets valued at $1,464. The suspect fled on a bicycle, prosecutors said. After surveillance images were circulated to nearby police districts, several officers identified Cutelis as the suspect.

On Nov. 21, officers responded to another reported theft at the Lululemon store inside the Prudential Center. Loss prevention staff provided a photo of a man accused of taking about $2,157 worth of merchandise. One of the items contained a GPS tracking device, which police used to track the merchandise to the Copley MBTA station, where they located Cutelis, prosecutors said. Officers said they found him with multiple Lululemon items still bearing tags, and the items were returned to the store.

“The current retail environment is difficult already and the last thing our merchants need is someone making a habit of coming into their stores and leaving with a lot of high-value, unpaid-for merchandise,” Hayden said in a statement. “We know the outsized impact repeat offenders can have on retail theft and we’re committed to reducing it.”

Morgan Rousseau is a freelance writer for Boston.com, where she reports on a variety of local and regional news.