MANCHESTER, NH – Two bystanders and a police officer on patrol partnered in bringing an accused laptop thief to justice Tuesday, after an incident on Elm Street that originated at Dancing Lion Chocolate, 917 Elm St.
At about 10 a.m. Kevin Tseronis of Manchester was in the area of the chocolate shop when heard a woman screaming for help. Tseronis and another bystander, Joel Gill of New Boston, saw Richard Hardy, 32, of Manchester, who they deduced was involved in what turned out to be an alleged theft of a laptop.
Gill confronted Hardy and wrestled the laptop from him. Tseronis saw Hardy running toward Nutfield Lane and tried to cut him off to stop him until police could be summoned. At that time Hardy allegedly threatened to stab Tseronis with a hypodermic needle, so Tseronis backed away and managed to flag down Sgt. Al Aldenberg at just the right time, who chased down Hardy and caught him in front of the YWCA on Concord Street.
Hardy was in possession of 13 Clonazepam pills (a commonly abused and addictive seizure/anxiety medication) and two hypodermic needles, police said.
According to the theft victim, she told police she was seated in the cafe working on her laptop when she got up from the table to order something and that’s when Hardy allegedly entered the shop and grabbed her laptop from the table. Seeing this, the woman started screaming, which alerted Tseronis and Gill to the situation.
Hardy was charged with resisting arrest/detention; criminal threatening; theft by unauthorized taking (a felony); and possession of a controlled drug. He was scheduled to appear in the 9th Circuit Court-Manchester on September 2.
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