NORWAY – The heat got to one local man in an unexpected way Wednesday.

A Norway man was charged with stealing money from a parked car at the town beach Wednesday afternoon, less than two hours after police set up the sting operation to stop a rash of burglaries.

James Boucher, 52, of 24 Huntington Ave., was arrested after he reached into the unmarked car and swiped $30 in cash left in an open zippered compartment of a purse on the seat, police Chief Robert Federico said Wednesday night.

“He said the temptation was too great,” Frederico said of Boucher’s reaction.

Federico said that police decided to stake out the lot next to Norway Lake after receiving reports for the last two weeks of unoccupied cars at the beach being broken into and money taken. So, he said, they parked a decoy car, rolled the windows down about 8 inches, left $30 cash in a purse on the seat and locked the doors. Then an officer with a video camera hid in nearby bushes.

“It worked really slick,” the chief said. “The officer was able to videotape him stealing the cash.

“It really is fun when something like that comes together,” he said. “Because we had such success, we’ll probably do that again . . . from time to time throughout the summer.”

Boucher was charged with theft and criminal trespass, booked at the Oxford County Jail in Paris and released on bail, officials said.