Teens stole woman's purse

Portsmouth Police released the following:

During the early evening hours, approximately 8:10 PM, on February 19th, 2010, the Portsmouth Police Department received a call from a woman who had been robbed. The victim said she had been knocked to the ground and her assailant grabbed her purse and ran off with it.

At the time of the robbery the victim was walking by herself in the area of Washington Street and Gates Street. The assailant came up behind her, knocked her to the ground and grabbed the purse.

Officers began a search for the suspects and Officer Nicole Mercer found two male suspects in Strawberry Banke with the purse. Officer Mercer did apprehend one of the suspects and recovered the purse and it's contents. The second suspect ran off.

The suspect that Officer Mercer apprehended has been identified as:

• James Childs
• Date of birth 12-26-91
• Charged with:
• Conspiracy to commit robbery, A Felony

Officers learned that there was a third suspect involved, who was driving a getaway vehicle. Officer Eric Benson and Lt. Mark Newport stopped that vehicle on Parrott Ave and arrested the driver who was identified as:

• Braden Laurion
• Date of birth 03-08-92
• Charged with:
• Conspiracy to commit robbery, A Felony

The third suspect was located on State Street and was apprehended by Officer Erik Widerstrom, Lt. Russell Russo and Officer Matthew Hester. He was identified as:

• Faith Waani
• Date of birth 04-24-92
• Charged with:
• Robbery, A Felony
• Simple Assault, Class A Misdemeanor
• Resisting Arrest, Class A Misdemeanor

Because of the teamwork and professionalism of each Supervisor, Officer and Dispatcher the suspects were taken into custody in less than one hour after the robbery occurred.

The victim was not injured and all of her property was recovered.

Detective Sergeant Kuffer Kaltenborn, Detective Rochelle Jones and Detective Michael Leclair assisted with the interviews and search of the suspect vehicle that was impounded.