These days it seems like people will do just about anything to look good – even if it means breaking the law.

After three thefts in May totaling a loss of more than $3,000, The Gap, 1706 Sherman Ave, might have to consider increasing security in order to prevent repeat offenses.

Tamera Danielle Cotton, 22, of the 600 block of West Division Street in Chicago, was charged with stealing $2,811.50 in clothes from The Gap on Wednesday, said Cmdr. Michael Perry of Evanston Police Department.

The manager at The Gap told police that four people ran into the store and took piles of clothes, Perry said.

A witness told police he watched two women and two men run north into an alley, then west up the alley where they got into a gray, four-door Ford Taurus and drove away, Perry said.

Taken were 27 pairs of pants worth $1,188, 13 polo shirts worth $399.50 and 36 pairs of cargo shorts worth $1,224, Perry said.

Cotton later was arrested when Chicago Police stopped a car matching the description given by the witness, Perry said, but three passengers exited the car and fled before the police could detain them.

The stolen clothes were discovered in the car, and police arrested the driver in connection with the theft, Perry said.

Cotton told police she had just picked up her friends at Jewel Osco, 1128 Chicago Ave., and could not explain why the clothes were in her car, Perry said.

The Gap manager and the witness positively identified Cotton and the clothes, he said.

The State’s Attorney’s office approved felony charges and Cotton is scheduled to appear June 17 at Circuit Court in Skokie.

In another incident, 18 pairs of The Gap khakis were stolen May 24. The pants, valued at $44 a pair, were worth $792. A Gap employee told police he saw a man run from the store with the pants and head north into an alley. The man fled in a car that was parked in the alley.

The first incident occurred May 1 when two women walked out of The Gap with three stacks of capri pants and a pile of sleeveless sweaters.

The women fled southbound on Sherman Avenue in a maroon 1990 Buick Skylark.