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Man with 115 convictions charged with stealing from Vancouver art gallery

50-year-old suspected of stealing $40,000 worth of fine art from South Granville gallery
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Vancouver police officers arrested a 50-year-old man on Dec. 31, who is suspected of stealing from a South Granville fine art gallery. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

A 50-year-old Vancouver man with a long history of criminal convictions is now facing two more charges after a South Granville art gallery was stolen from last week.

The Vancouver Police Department says officers arrested Francis Boivin at his home on Saturday (Dec. 31) after recognizing his face in security footage of the theft from earlier that day.

“The thief had fled prior to our arrival, but the officers drove to his home in East Vancouver, waited for him, and arrested him when he arrived home carrying the stolen art,” Sgt. Steve Addison said in a news release.

With 115 previous convictions under his belt, Boivin is well known to police.

VPD says after officers arrested him on Saturday they returned with a search warrant and found a second piece of art, which had also been stolen from the South Granville gallery. In total, VPD says the two pieces were worth nearly $40,000.

Boivin is charged with two counts of theft over $5,000.

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