Robbery car switch?

Press, 20 February 1979, Page 2

Robbery car switch?

| PA Auckland j Detectives think that the i robbers may have switched (getaway cars soon after the 6278,000 Post Office payroll snatch last Wednesday. They’ are now looking for ,1 bright red 1973 Mazda RX3 ports coupe, which might >elong to a West Auckland resident.

This car was seen leaving Renall Street, Freemans Bay, on the day of the robbery. Detectives later found the first getaway car, a green Morris Marina, in a Renal! Street garage. Detective Inspector P. Ward, head of the robbery investigation, yesterday asked the public to report any red Mazda RX3s seen in the western suburbs or near the Waitakere Ranges. The car sought may have minor dents on its left side and possibly in the rear. It was seen in West Auckland several times in the last three weeks.

Mr Ward says inquiries suggest that the Federal Street Post Office payroll robbery was discussed by “the criminal element” soon after the $33,000 robbery at the Post Office Training Centre in Ponsonby on November 9.

“It looks as though someone thought that if they got $33,000 from that robbery, it would be worth knocking off the place that distributes all the Post Office money,” Mr Ward said. Detectives have interviewed many drug dealers and users because they strongly suspect that the robbery was drugs-related. Mr Ward says the public have responded well to police requests for information.