what would they have to speculate over you almost getting your purse stolen? yeah, it'd be in the news and MAYBE they'd want to ask questions, but you could refuse and just leave it at that. actually, this would work to your advantage. no juicy story = no extensive media coverage. the only thing would be when they see it's Ethan who helped.
tl;dr you don't know how the media works, Ms. Murphy.

