cutpurse
A thief who steals from others' purses or pockets in public.
A cutpurse of the empire and the rule
Where it comes from
From Middle English cutte-purs; equivalent to cut + purse: originally, purses were worn by a strap at the girdle, which the thief would cut.
Adapted from the Wiktionary entry cutpurse (CC BY-SA 4.0).