POCATELLO — If a local man facing charges of robbery and petit theft thought targeting a small thrift shop in the city’s warehouse district would be easy, he was sadly mistaken.

Three grandmothers, of which the youngest is 65 and the eldest is 80, furiously fought off Manuel Soltero, 30, of Pocatello, after he stole one of the woman’s keys from inside Second Time Around, a thrift shop on South First Avenue in Pocatello, and then stole her 2017 Honda CRV, police said.

The incident began around 2:45 p.m. on Saturday when Soltero entered the thrift shop and acted as if he was shopping, police said. Soltero then found a set of keys and an envelope full of money on the counter inside the store, police said.

Soltero grabbed the keys and envelope, and when the store owner confronted him about it, he attempted to say they belonged to him, police said. The owner of the keys and envelope then confronted Soltero, who became aggressively hostile toward the three elderly women, police said.

The verbal altercation soon turned physical, as the three elderly woman attempted to force Soltero to return the keys, police said. The women were grabbing for the keys, ripping Soltero’s shirt in the process, and at one point, started beating Soltero with a broomstick, police said.

The owner of the Honda CRV then exited the store and entered her vehicle to retrieve her cell phone and attempt to stop Soltero from stealing the car, at which point Soltero followed her, police said.

Soltero then grabbed the vehicle owner and yanked her out of the car before throwing her to the paved parking lot of the thrift store, police said. One of the other elderly women rushed to the aid of the vehicle owner in fear that Soltero would attempt to run her over, police said.

The vehicle’s owner then called 911. Pocatello police spotted Soltero parking the vehicle a few blocks from the store, police said.

Police arrested Soltero without incident as he walked away from the vehicle and charged him with robbery, which is punishable by at least five years in prison and a maximum of life in prison, as well as misdemeanor petit theft.

Nobody was seriously injured during the incident, police said. Soltero told police that he wanted to report he was attacked by the three elderly women in the store.

“He said he was attacked for touching an item in the thrift shop,” police said. “He said he took the car in order to escape from the attackers. It should be noted that the three women he was describing were all over the age of 60. … (Soltero) is a 30-year-old male.”

Soltero was booked into Bannock County Jail in Pocatello after his arrest. He appeared in front of Sixth District Judge Steven A. Thomsen on Tuesday for an arraignment hearing, where his bond was set at $30,000.

Soltero is due back in court Nov. 26 for a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to take his case to trial.