Alleged Robber Duo Foiled by Fainting Clerk

A husband and wife were arrested in Nashua in connection with two armed robberies in Manchester over the weekend.  

Manchester Police Lt. Maureen Tessier said Stephen Ham, 47, listed address of North State Street, Concord, and Debbra Ham, 50, listed address of Motel 6 in Nashua, were both arrested after their vehicle was spotted heading south on Route 3 by a New Hampshire State Police Trooper, who stopped the vehicle on Amherst Street in Nashua and made the arrest.

Tessier said the first robbery happened November 16 just after  3 a.m. at the Mobil Station at 1019 Second Street in Manchester. On arrival, Officer Neil Penttinen met with the 54-year-old clerk who reported that a masked man, armed with a knife, had just robbed the store.

According to the clerk, the man had entered the store, brandishing a knife and demanding money. He threatened to kill the clerk if he did not comply and walked around behind the counter, attempting to get more money from the lottery drawer. The suspect fled the store with cash.

A short time later, another armed robbery was reported at the Shell station at 245 Eddy Road, less than three miles away, where again, a masked man armed with a knife had robbed the store. In this instance, the 64-year-old clerk reported to Officer Ken Brunnini that a man had entered the store wearing a mask. When she asked him to remove the mask, the man brandished a knife and moved around the counter towards the clerk, who reportedly feigned a fainting spell.

The robber then removed the entire register off the counter and ran out of the store with it. Both the clerk and a customer in the store at the time of the robbery were able to provide police with a description and partial plate of a suspect vehicle in which the robber left the scene as a passenger.

Based on that description, NH State Trooper Kieran Fagan spotted the vehicle on Route 3 in Merrimack, eventually stopping it on Amherst Street in Nashua, where the two occupants were identified as: Stephen Ham and Debbra Ham. Inside the car, police observed loose money and a register believed to have been taken from the Shell station.

Based on further investigation, Stephen Ham was identified as the suspect in both robberies and charged with two counts of robbery He was also held as a Fugitive from Justice due to a warrant out of Pepperill, Mass., for armed robbery. Debbra Ham was identified as the suspected getaway driver in the Shell Station Robbery and charged with criminal liability to robbery.