HEAVY SAFE REMOVER

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 154, 2 July 1927, Page 14

HEAVY SAFE REMOVER

NEARBY CAR DISAPPEARS, SAFE FOTJH© AT THREE KOTOS TWO MEN DISTOBBED. i

The attention of s inan who wy passing a laTge section near Three Kings, Mount Roskill, yesterday afternoon, wis attracted by the sound of someone hammering metal. Proceeding to investigate, he saw two men behind a clump of bushes. They were vainly endeavouring to open a safe by means of a cold chisel and .'. hammer. The. men, whose facea x were covered with handkerchiefs, made off as soon as they observed that they were discovered. The police were immediately communicated with. The section is the one formerly occupied by the Wesley Training College. Although it is a large one, a high wall, trees and shrubs make it secluded. The safe was the one which was removed from Messrs. De Luen and Hardlev's service parage. 465. Manukau Road, on Thursday night. The thieve* gained .entrance by breaking open the front door. The wood to which the lock was attached was splintered. The thieves then apparently went to the office, where they prised open two or three doors, but found nothing. The safe, which they then removed, must have required at least four men to lift it. The same evening Mr. John Hardley'a motor car was removed from King George Avenue, which is in the vicinity of the garage. It was later found at Moroingside with a broken windscreen. The plush on the front seat was also considerably damaged, and the door scratched and dented. It is thought that this ear was used to remove the safe. The damage to the car baa been estimated at £16. The safe, which contained only hooka and papers, showed that desperate efforts had been made to force it open. In a drawer in the office .there was about £2 in petty cash, but this drawer was left alone. The premises were entered once before within the past twa months, on which occasion the thieves secured £10 from the cash register.