VANCOUVER — Judge Keith Schwartz gave Lindsay Lohan a chilling warning today in court, saying she "must follow the law just like anybody else."

The admonition came after he granted the troubled actress $20,000 bail on her felony grand theft charge that alleges she pilfered a $2,500 necklace at a jewelry shop in Venice Beach, Calif. last month.

Lohan arrived in court wearing a form-fitting short dress that raised the eyebrows of many onlookers who deemed it inappropriate.

The judge said nothing of her dress, but was stern about her behaviour. "Let me tell you a couple of things so we have no misunderstandings," he intoned.

If Lohan violates the terms of her bail "I will remand you and set no bail," he said. That would put the 24-year-old actress back behind bars.

"Don't push your luck," Swartz warned.

A court today will charge the troubled actress with felony grand theft for nicking the bauble, a website is reporting.

Lohan pleaded not guilty to the theft charges.

A source earlier told TMZ that the Mean Girls star "feels that she is being maligned, and that she has a reasonable defense: She was loaned the necklace, plain and simple."

Already the D.A. is not amused at the incident, and will ask the judge at a later date to throw the starlet back behind bars, according to the web site.

The judge set her probation violation hearing on a previous set of misdemeanor charges to Feb. 23.

Lohan was spotted earlier in the day having her done at a high-end salon in Beverly Hills.

A conviction on the theft charge carries a maximum three-year prison sentence.

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