Man accused of purse-snatching from more than a dozen women in Seattle neighborhoods

Police have arrested 26-year-old man suspected of stealing purses and bags from more than a dozen women in Seattle's Chinatown-International District, Rainier Valley and Beacon Hill neighborhoods.

Over the last six weeks, the suspect 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, Seattle police said. 

RELATED: Help ID suspect, vehicle seen on camera after using purse theft victim’s credit card to buy $500 in gift cards

SPD said the suspect was identified and arrested Wednesday at a Renton car rental lot with the help of US Marshals. 

Police recovered a loaded handgun from the man - a convicted felon and unable to legally possess guns - and booked him into the King County Jail for multiple counts of theft and unlawful possession of a firearm.

SPD’s Bias Crimes unit will also review the cases, due to the suspect’s repeated targeting of Asian victims.

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