KITCHENER -- Guelph police are investigating after two purses were stolen from people shopping at grocery stores on the same afternoon.
Both incidents happened at the end of February.
In the first case, police say a 66-year-old Guelph woman was shopping at a store near the intersection of Paisley Road and Elmira Road South sometime between 3 and 4 p.m.
While she shopped, police say she was followed by someone who waited for a good time to snatch her purse.
The suspect then left the store and got into a grey car that was waiting in the parking lot.
The purse, a black leather satchel, had in it a wallet, car and house keys, a cell phone and a number of personal documentation.
Just after 3 p.m. on the same day, another woman reported that her purse had been stolen from a different grocery store.
This time, she was shopping at a store near Edinburgh Road South and Stone Road West, less than 7 km away.
Police say the circumstances of this theft were "very similar" to the other.
The person in this incident left in a vehicle described as a silver Nissan sedan with damage to the bottom right corner of the driver side door and a loose bumper.
Police say they've heard of several other incidents in nearby regions, often targeting "mature females" who are shopping.
Officials say they'd like to speak with the person in the photo above in connection to the thefts.
Anyone with information in this case is asked to contact Guelph Police or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
