RUSE SPICES UP COUNCIL MEETING.

Byline: Amy Collins Daily News Staff Writer

From the back of the City Council chambers, a woman walked toward the elected officials, passed the city clerk and plucked the purse sitting in the edge of the dias in front of Councilwoman Jo Anne Darcy.

``She's got my purse! Get 'em! Get 'em!'' Darcy yelled as the council chambers filled with a flurry Tuesday night - with audience members heading for the doors, the city manager leading a line of suits darting after the purse snatcher and other bodies not sure whether to stand up, duck down or run out.

The robbery was staged at the beginning of the council meeting by KNBC (Channel 4) for a segment that will air Sunday on the difficulty of identifying a suspect after a crime.

After the ruse was explained, the TV station asked for five volunteers who thought they got a good look at the suspect. The eyewitnesses were escorted

down a hall to individually give their descriptions to a police sketch artist.

But even the self-sure witnesses didn't do so hot.

Kari Smith of Newhall attended the council meeting to find out the fate of sidewalk construction on her street. She thought she got a good look at the suspect, who had been seated only a few rows behind her before the crime.

``Twenty minutes later, I don't even remember what color hat she was wearing. I think it was white,'' Smith said after spending some time with the sketch artist.

KNBC reporter Rick Chambers, a Saugus resident, said he has done two similar segments in the past two years. One at a college journalism class and the other to a meeting of Orange County public defenders.

``We're just totally amazed at how different the descriptions are,'' Chambers said.