Police arrested a 26-year-old man suspected of stealing purses and bags from more than a dozen women in the Chinatown-International District, Rainier Valley, and Beacon Hill.
Over the last six weeks, the man approached his victims—primarily Asian women, from 40 to 80 years old—near their vehicles, outside Seattle grocery stores, and grabbed their bags before fleeing in a vehicle.
On May 18, members of the Robbery Unit, Gun Violence Reduction Unit, Community Response Group, and U.S. Marshals arrested the man at a Renton car rental lot. Police recovered a loaded handgun from the man—who is a convicted felon and unable to legally possess guns—and booked him into King County Jail for multiple counts of theft and unlawful possession of a firearm.
The Seattle Police Department’s Bias Crimes unit will also review the cases, due to the suspect’s repeated targeting of Asian victims.