ARMED ROBBERY NEAR TIMARU

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28552, 3 April 1958, Page 12

ARMED ROBBERY NEAR TIMARU

£9OOO Freezing Works Payroll Taken (From Our Own Reporter) TIMARU, April 2. A highway robbery startled residents of Timaru and the employees of the Canterbury Frozen Meat Company this morning when the local manager of the company (Mr W.S. Minehan) was relieved by a man of a £9OOO payroll on the road from Timaru to the company’s works at Pareora. Road blocks have been erected at strategic points and a close watch is being kept on roads leading north of the area. Cars are being stopped and checked at these places. An extensive search was carried out in the Cave area this afternoon but no trace of the man was found. Police stations throughout Canterbury and Otago were alerted and are co-operating with the Timaru police in an effort to catch the bandit.

Mr Minehan, a Justice of the Peace, was travelling in his car with the pay-roll in two bags on the seat beside him when at 11 a.m- he saw a car which had been approaching him pull up in a cloud of dust at the side of the road at Kingsdown, about five miles south of Timaru.

Thinking the criver of u.c r might have been a plain-clothes traffic officer, Mr Minehan slowed down and continued on his way. The other car, a fawn Vauxhall, waited for three following cars to pass then turned around and gave chase. When the fawn car drew alongside Mr Minehan's car, Mr Minehan yelled at the driver for getting so close but the car forced him to the verge anu i...- Minehan had to pull up. Stul under the illusion that the driver of the fawn car was a traffic officer, Mr Minehan remained in his seat.

A man jumped out of the car with a shotgun in his hand afid pointed it through the window at Mr Minehan's chest. The naan was dressed in a two-piece khaki overall and wore dark glasses and a hat.

Demanded Pay He said to Mr Minehan: “1 want the pay.” “I haven’t got it,” Mr Minehan retorted.

“If you don’t give me your gun and the pay I'll blow your brains out,” repliea the armed man.

Mr Minehan surrendered his revolver. The man told him to get out of the car and lie on the ground. When Mr Minehan complied, the man said: “One move out of you and I’ll shoot you.” He took the two bags of money out of the car.

When the robber ha 1 made off iu his car Mr Minehan made to give chase but found that his ignition keys were missing from the dashboard.

A former employee ol the freezing works arrived on a bicycle and was sent to ring the umaru police at a nearby farmhouse. Mr Minehai. had take the number of the car used by the man. He described the man to the police as being aged about 35, sft Ilin in height, of medium build and with a sharp nose and clean-cut features. He said he spoke with an English accent. The car was found shortly before 1 p.m. abandoned in a riverbed near Cave. Stolen Car

The car was stolen some time before 9 a.m. from Perth street, adjacent to the Timaru Chief Post Office. The owner of the vehicle, Mr J. H. Healey, a Timaru company secretary, told the police that he left his car locked, with the ignition key removed. The place where the robbery occurred had obvious advantages

for a hold-up. The road passes through a cutting, with the Kingsdown School on one side and a small plantation on the other side. A narrow clay road runs off to the right of traffic going south, and the nature of the country offers opportunity for concealment. All available men from the Timaru Police Station set out for the Cave area this afternoon and spent the rest of the day making extensive house-to-house inquiries. Detective-Sergeant J. A. Marshall, in charge of the search at Cave, said this evening that no trace of the man had been found. He said no-one had seen anyone answering the man's description in the area today. Assistance from Christchurch and Dunedin had been called, said Inspector J. J. Halcrow, the relieving officer in charge of the station. Police Reinforcements Detective L. D. Harrowfield (Oamaru), Detective-Sergeant F. G. Pine, and Detective J. S. Ashby (Christchurch), and Detectives W. J. Smolensk! and K. R. Aitken (Dunedin) have arrived in Timaru. Mr Minehan said today that he had been carrying the payroll from Timaru to Pareora each week for the last 33 years. No thought had been given yet to offering a reward for the recovery of the money, and he had not yet gone into the question of whether or not the payroll was covered by insurance, said Mr Minehan. The money was in denominations of £lO and less.