A man is to appear in court on Monday after being arrested for stealing bank cards from a motorist who was suffering a medical event.

Police in Tauranga have arrested the person who stole a woman’s purse and bankcards from her husband’s phone case while her husband suffered a medical event.

The couple were driving down Te Awanui Drive in heavy traffic on Monday November 27 heading towards Mount Maunganui when the man suffered a medical event.

Members of the public stopped and assisted until emergency services arrived and the man was taken to hospital.

"Obviously distressed from the incident, a local Police officer drove the woman to hospital to be with her husband," says a Police spokesperson.

"On the way to the hospital the woman discovered her purse was missing.

"When she returned to the vehicle later, she discovered that her husband’s bank cards had been removed from his phone case."

Police say calls to her bank confirmed both the cards taken from her purse and her husband’s phone case had been used at various retail outlets in the area.

"A 40-year-old man, matching clothing of one of the people who had stopped to assist during the event, has been arrested and charged with theft and using a stolen card," says a Police spokesperson.

He is due to appear in Tauranga District Court on Monday December 11.