WIRI BURGLARY.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 247, 18 October 1926, Page 5

WIRI BURGLARY.

' DETECTIVES' QUICK WORK. | THE YELLOW CAR CLUE. STOLEN GOODS RECOVERED. j On Sunday night. October 3, aj grocery store was broken into at V\in, I when an assortment of goods was i stolen. The burglary was discovered on i the following morning and reported to the police at Auckland. On Monday morning. October 4, at 0.30, Detective I Sergeants O'Brien and Kelly left the | Auckland detective office in the police : car to investigate, travelling a distance • of 15 miles to Wiri. While at Wiri they | picked up a clue. Someone had seen a j yellow light car nr truck in the vicinity I of the store the night previous. It was the yellow car clue that the officers j worked on, and by 4.45 p.m. the same day Charles Powell Cooke (35), who did, the "job,'' was arrested and a statement obtained from him. All of the stolen j property, with the exception of a few packets of cigarettes, was recovered by j 7 p.m. that clay—surely a piece of quick work. Cooke appeared before Messrs. A. J. Stratford and D. Donaldson, J.P's., at the Police Court this morning, when he pleaded guilty to the following charges:—Breaking and entering the : store of Robert William Wilson, at Wiri, j on October 3, and stealing cigarettes, j tobacco and groceries, etc., of a total value of £12 10/9*: stealing motor tools i and accessories, valued at £35. the pro-: perty of Cecil Wilfred Harty, at Wiri on ! July 2S; the theft of a motor tyre, tube j and rim, valued at £4, the property of A. E. Toyer; on September 3. theft of a tyre tube and rim, valued at £10, the property of Max Carlton, and on August 21, with stealing six cases of kerosene, valued at £3 12/, the property of H. Bray and Company. Chief Detective Cummings prosecuted, while Mr. Dickson appeared for accused. Robert William Wilson, storekeeper and postmaster at Wiri, said that on Monday. October 4, he found that the door of the shop had been forced open by an instrument. Groceries, cigarettes and tobacco, etc., valued at £12 19/9* were stolen. Witness reported the matter to the police and later the same day Detective Sergeants O'Brien and Kelly saw him, when he supplied the officers j with a list of the stolen goods. The whole of the property was recovered by Detective Sergeant O'Brien the following day. Nothing was disturbed in the post office, which was separated from the store by a partition. The next witness, Cecil Wilfred Harty, said he placed his motor car in "Courtville" garage on July 26, and on going to get the car later, found the garage door open. The car was missing. On July 30 his car was found abandoned and damaged on Wiri bridge. Accessories which he value at £86 19/ had been re- ! moved from the car. On October 6, he identified motor accessories, which he valued at £35, at the detective office, in charge of Detective Sergeant O'Brien. Accessories valued at £51 were still missing. Detective Sergeant O'Brien said that in company with Detective Sergeant Kelly he proceeded to Wiri on Monday morning, October 4. As the result of inquiries they returned to Te Papapa, ! near Onehunga, where witness interviewed Cooke. Accused admitted having broken into the Wiri store the night previous and stealing the goods mentioned. On October 7 witness executed a search warrant on accused's dwelling at Te Papapa, where he found motor accessories valued at about £30. Accused was also found in possession of a motor tyre, tube and rim, the property of A. E. Toyer. A tyre which was identified by Max Carlton as his property was also found in accused's house. Cooke admitted having stolen six cases of kerosene from the quarry of H. Bray and Co., carriers, of Onehunga. In a statement which accused made and signed, Cooke stated that he was a married man with a family of six. children. He had found it difficult to make ends meet and feed his family. He had been out of work for four months, and had been hawking fish. He admitted breaking into the Wiri store on Sunday evening, October 3, and removing the stolen goods in his motor van. He was tempted to get what foodstuffs he could, as he and his family were short of food and money. Cooke was committed to the Supreme Court for sentence.