STARTLING AFFRAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 88, 14 April 1927, Page 9

STARTLING AFFRAY.

STRUGGLE ON MANGERE BRIDGE.

THREE MEN ARRESTED. FOUR TINS OF OPIUM SEIZED. After a startling affray on the Mangcre Bridge last night, three men were arrested by the Onehunga police, and a handbag containing four tins of opium, worth about £30, was seized. It is alleged that the bag belonged to one of the men. About six o'clock erics were heard coming from the bridge. Mr. and Mrs. Allen and their son and daughter dashed to give help. They found a man lying on the ground near the beach. Two men were bending over him and wore apparently trying to take something from him.

When the men saw that help was coining they tried to make a getaway. One of them jumped a fence, but as he did so, Mr. Allen, junior, caught him by the leg and threw him. He held him till help came. Miss Allen caught the other man who made a frantic attempt to escape and Mas, it appeared, about to strike the girl heavily.

Just as his arm went up to strike, he went down with a right hook from Mr. Allen, senior, who had followed closely behind his daughter. Both men were held until the police arrived. They were arrested and locked up at Onehunga.

The condition of the man who had been assaulted showed plainly that he had been severely handled, for he had bad bruises on his face. He was taken to the police station so that he could give an account of the affray. When a man's handbag, alleged to have been the property of the injured man, was opened, four tins of opium were found. The man made a statement regarding the contents and ownership of the bag. He was arrested