HealthLink employee describes actions that led to arrest of young couple charged with downtown purse snatching

LACONIA — The man and woman who allegedly stole an elderly woman's purse while she was in the parking lot of the downtown HealthLink building on Wednesday will face a district court judge tomorrow morning, in part because a concerned citizen sprang into action.

Police said Patricia A. Kennett, 28, whose address is listed as transient and Andrew D. Rouse, 25, also a transient, are both being held in Belknap County Jail on cash bail — $5,000 for Kennett and $4,000 for Rouse.

The brazen robbery of the elderly woman was witnessed by an employee of LRGHealthcare who agreed to tell The Daily Sun what he saw provided his name was not used.

He said, if necessary, he is willing to testify against the two and has told his version of event to the Laconia Police.

The man said he was eating his lunch in the HealthLink building around 2 p.m. Wednesday when he heard "Help, Help Help, they took my purse."

He said he saw a man and a woman run by his office window and he ran out after them, telling his secretary to call the police.

He said he chased them down Main Street to near Sawyer's Jewelry, where he began yelling at them and told them to give pack the possessions because the police were coming.

He said he waited for police and pointed them in the direction the two ran after they dropped the woman's wallet.

The witness said the woman was unharmed but very upset.

Kennett and Rouse are scheduled to appear in N.H. 4th Circuit Court, Laconia Division this morning to face charges of robbery, default or breach of bail and theft by unauthorized taking.