Thief runs off with Boston Marathon winner's purse during parade

SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO -- While Caroline Rotich was being honored Monday with a parade through downtown Santa Fe for winning the 2015 Boston Marathon elite women’s division, a burglar was breaking into her car near the start of the parade route.

Around the time that Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales was telling the Kenyan-born Santa Fe resident that, “This will always be your home,” the culprit was making off with her purse, which police said contained an unspecified amount of cash, some credit cards and her driver’s license.

Rotich, who gained widespread fame by winning the April 20 running competition in Boston, had left her car parked at Fort Marcy Recreation Complex, 490 Bishops Lodge Road, where the parade started at 4 p.m. with Rotich waving to well-wishers from the front seat of a vintage red fire engine.

Police spokeswoman Lt. Andrea Dobyns said the thief smashed a window and stole the purse sometime between 4 and 5:30 p.m. The official parade schedule had called for the event to end at 6 p.m. at the Santa Fe Plaza.

Read more: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/thief-runs-off-with-boston-marathon-winner-s-purse-during/article_7b587cea-ee2c-11e4-9c83-e372192a950b.html

Cross-posted in the New Mexico Group.