JEWELLER’S SHOP RAIDED

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23482, 10 November 1941, Page 6

JEWELLER’S SHOP RAIDED

THIEVES ESCAPE IN MOTORCAR

(P.S.S.) HAMILTON, November 8. Adopting Chicago gangster methods, two young men got away with about £IOO worth of jewellery in a smash-and-grab raid on a jeweller’s shop in Morrinsville. Although the raid was smartly carried out and at a time when the street is usually deserted, the thieves were fortunate to get away. It was at 11.35 p.m. when a motor-car drew silently up to the kerb near the post office and one young man dashed out, smashed the window of the shop of Mr M. G, Philpott, jeweller, and grabbed a tray of rings and one wristlet watch. The other man stayed at the wheel of the car, with the engine running, and within a minute the car, without lights, was speeding away from the scene. A group of men standing near the bank building a short distance away heard the crash of the breaking window. They dashed in the direction of the shop immediately and one just failed to reach the young man who had the tray of rings. As soon as the tray had been thrown into the motor-car and the man himself was half in, the vehicle swept out into the middle of the road with a roar as the accelerator was pressed hard down, and there was no chance of interference. Constable Saw Stolen Car Constable J. McMullan, of Morrinsville, passed the scene five' minutes before the raid on his way home in his motor-car. All was then quiet, but a little distance away a motor-car previously reported stolen in Hamilton passed him at high speed going in the opposite direction. When he had stopped and turned, the other motorcar was out of sight. Observers near the scene of the raid say the description of the motor-car tallies with that involved in the raid. The borough night watchman was several chains away and when he heard the smash he ran towards the noise, but all he saw was the fast-disappear-ing motor-car. There were mostly signet and fancy rings on the tray. A large quantity of watches and other jewellery in the window were not touched.