A suspected thief who allegedly targeted older women shopping at Walmart and Safeway so he could snatch their wallets out of the purses in their shopping carts was caught on the Agate Pass Bridge after he escaped police in a chase toward the island that hit speeds up to 100 mph.

The 58-year-old Renton man was charged last week in Kitsap County District Court with four felony complaints: attempting to elude police, possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine), and two counts of second-degree theft.

At the time he was taken into custody, just before 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, police also arrested the man for possession of heroin, driving with a license suspended (third degree), operating a vehicle without an ignition interlock, and failing to transfer the title of a vehicle.

According to court documents, the man is a suspect in 10 cases where he stole wallets from the Walmart and Safeway stores in Poulsbo.

Authorities said he targeted elderly women and other women who left their purses and shopping carts unattended for brief moments while they were shopping.

Police were already aware of a half dozen similar cases when workers at Walmart called 911 to report that the man suspected in those incidents — previously discovered by in-store video surveillance — had just walked out of the Poulsbo store. A witness said he was wearing “distinctive red sneakers” on his way out.

With a license plate number and a vehicle description, a Poulsbo police officer quickly found the man in his Honda Accord heading south on Highway 305.

But when police tried to pull the man over, he tried to get away.

He started weaving in and out of traffic, going through red lights, dodging other drivers — and nearly hitting them head on — as he hit speeds of 100 mph while fleeing south on 305.

Police broke off the chase at Seminole Road.

Suquamish Police found the driver as he roared into the parking garage at the Clearwater Casino “at high speed.”

An officer chased him on foot through the garage, but the man escaped into the casino and disappeared.

Turns out, the suspected wallet thief didn’t get far.

A deputy from the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office found him on the Agate Pass Bridge, trying to hitchhike a ride.

A Poulsbo officer responded to the scene, and found the man on the bridge matched the description of the one wanted for the thefts as well as the person who tried to evade police in the subsequent chase. He was also wearing bright red shoes.

The man was arrested, and a check of his driving status found that he had a license that was suspended/revoked in the third degree.

He was also supposed to have an interlock ignition device in the Honda he was driving, but didn’t, and police then discovered the title of the vehicle had not been transferred after its sale.

The man denied being involved in the thefts, and said he only ran from police because he was scared.

While he admitted to being inside Walmart earlier, he reportedly said he had left after getting a phone call to meet someone.

After he gave police permission to look at his phone to see that call, an officer discovered a plastic bag containing methamphetamine in a pocket of the phone case.

The man then told police the phone and the drugs did not belong to him.

Another bag was soon discovered in the cell phone case that contained heroin.

The man’s crime spree started to come to an end after police linked him to a theft that happened at Walmart between 11:15 and 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 25.

A woman called police to report her wallet had been stolen, which included cash and credit cards.

She told police that she knew she had her wallet with her while shopping because she had stopped at the Navy Federal Credit Union branch inside Walmart to withdraw $100, and she had to show her license at the bank while completing the transaction.

She said she only realized her wallet was gone when she went to check out at the register after shopping.

A check of the video system at Walmart found video of the man who was arrested on the bridge reaching into the woman’s purse and taking her wallet as she had turned to look at something in the produce department. The video also reportedly showed the woman’s wallet in his hands as he walked away from the victim, and then showed him tucking it into the front of his pants and under his shirt, according to court documents, before he quickly walked out of the store.

In another theft case at the Walmart in Poulsbo, during the afternoon of Sunday, Feb. 19, a woman told police that a man was standing near her when she was in the girls’ department looking at ankle bracelets for her granddaughters.

She said she bent down to look at the bracelets but turned around to find a man standing really close to her.

The man said, “Oh, excuse me,” and then bent over briefly to look at the display of bracelets.

The woman said the man looked at the items only for a few seconds, then walked away without selecting any merchandise. The woman thought that was strange, but kept shopping.

When the woman was finished shopping a short time later, she found her wallet missing from her purse when she got to the cash registers. Thinking she had left it at home, she went home to check but it wasn’t there. She then called 911.

The woman told police she had quickly canceled her credit cards after the discovery, but someone tried to use them at Walmart after the theft to get $200 off each one, without success.

Other cases involving the man were similar in nature, and police said a check of regional law enforcement records showed the man has a history of wallet thefts from purses dating back to the 1990s.

The suspected thief remains in Kitsap County Jail on felony charges of second-degree theft, attempting to elude police and drug possession. Bail has been set at $25,000.