A 31-year-old man claimed he stole on Sunday 20 bars of chocolate worth about P3,000 to give to a woman he was courting, the Malabon City police said yesterday.

Case investigator P/Cpl. Renz Banigued said the man would be charged with theft after he was caught taking five Toblerone and 15 Cadbury chocolate bars from a convenience store.

The chocolate bars were stuffed by the suspect into his jacket, but his actions did not escape the attention of the staff of the store along Gov. Pascual Avenue in Barangay Tinajeros.

The store supervisor chased the man when he left the store without paying for the chocolates.

"I won't sell them. I would just give them to the girl I am courting," the suspect insisted when asked whether he would sell the sweets.