DISGUISED THIEF

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 51, Issue 278, 7 September 1931, Page 3

DISGUISED THIEF

MAN IN BOY'S CLOTHES.

SURPRISED IN A HOUSE.

(Special to " The Guardian ")

AUCKLAND, Sept. 5

A new move to prevent detection and capture has been made by a mysterious burglar who for two years is believed to have been stealing money from houses in the city and suburbs. The thief's latest step is the adoption of disguises. Last week he entered a house wearing the clothes of a college boy. The incident, as far as it is known to the police, is that the occupier of a house in one of the suburbs says he awoke one night to find a schoolboy in his room. He was busy going through the pockets of the householder's trousers, which had been left lying over a chair. The informant states that he sat up in bed and called out: "What are you doing with those trousers?" The intruder was out of the room and away from the house like a shot, leaving what money there was behind. It is believed that he was none other than the mysterious thief. Confirmation in part has come through the report of a maid in another house, who declares that she saw a boy in the grounds on a. recent night. As the mystery burglar takes only money from houses he has proved a source of trouble to the police. On entering a house he generally leaves his shoes outside, and three pairs of canvas shoes dropped in hurried flight have been found by the police.