Sergeant Matt Lee, of Dunedin, said police were called to the theft in Tennyson St, about 9.40pm on Wednesday.
A 64-year-old woman had returned to her vehicle parked in the street having just watched a movie at nearby Rialto Cinemas.
But just after she had unlocked her vehicle and got in, an unknown man approached her front passenger’s door, Sgt Lee said.
‘‘He asked if she had attempted to call him and then opened the passenger's door, grabbed the female's handbag off the seat and ran away towards York Place.’’
The handbag contained the woman’s phone and credit cards.
A canine unit tracked from the scene but the man was not found by police.
The woman’s vehicle was forensically examined yesterday and possible fingerprints from the offender were lifted.
Enquiries were continuing to identify and find the man, Sgt Lee said.
‘‘Strong smell of cannabis’’
While patrolling the suburb of Mornington at 4am on Wednesday, police observed a vehicle being driven with both an expired warrant of fitness and expired registration.
The vehicle was stopped in Water St and behind the wheel was an 18-year-old woman with a 19-year-old woman in the passenger seat.
‘‘As the officer was speaking with the driver, a strong smell of cannabis was smelt coming from the vehicle,’’ Sgt Lee said.
The vehicle was searched and a total of 7.22g of cannabis was found, along with a glass bong.
Formal warnings were issued for the possession of cannabis, along with an infringement notice for the driving offences, Sgt Lee said.
Shoplifter found hiding in house
A suspected serial shoplifter who allegedly plundered Dunedin supermarkets, hardware stores and petrol stations was arrested after he was found hiding inside a house, police say.
While patrolling the suburb of Brockville about 9.30am yesterday, police found a vehicle belonging to a known wanted man parked in the driveway of a residential address.
The 42-year-old man was wanted for a number of shoplifting and theft incidents ‘‘at supermarkets, petrol stations, and hardware stores over the last four weeks’’, Sergeant Matt Lee, of Dunedin, said.
‘‘Police searched the house and located the wanted male, who was hiding inside, and he was arrested.’’
The man was held in police custody and was scheduled to appear in the Dunedin District Court today with his bail opposed.
He was charged with 11 counts of shoplifting and two counts of theft, Sgt Lee said.
