Robberies a grim record

Press, 16 July 1983, Page 1

Robberies a grim record

Four armed robberies in 34 hours was probably the highest incidence of such crime in Christchurch, said the head of the Christchurch police district, Deputy Assistant Commissioner G. E. Twentyman, yesterday. The Rutland Street Dairy was robbed on Wednesday morning and again on Thursday. The total taken in both robberies was $l7O.

Two men held up the Opawa Post Office on Thursday morning, but left empty-handed after the alarm sounded. ,

About $14,300 in cash and cheques was taken from the

Super Value supermarket at Church Corner at 9.30 p.m. on Thursday. A man with a sawn-off shotgun forced the manager of the store to open the safe. Weapons of violence have been used in 11 Christchurch robberies in the last three weeks.

Mr Twentyman said the police would have to make additional efforts to catch the criminals and to prevent further robberies.

“The C. 1.8. will step up its investigations, and we have devised a deployment of uniform branch staff to give better protection to people likely to be robbed,”

he said. Christchurch seemed to be following the trend of large overseas cities, where violent crime and robberies were increasing.

“Burglaries are still at an all-time high, even though 75 burglars had been apprehended in Christchurch recently,” said Mr Twentyman.

The youth who used a gun to force a shop assistant at the Rutland Street Dairy to give him money from the till was described as being aged about 19, 178 cm (sft Ilin), with black, wavy col-lar-length hair, and a scar near his right eye.

The two men, armed with a shotgun, who forced a Post Office employee to open a strongroom door at the Opawa Post Office, left in a stolen 1969 grey Ford Cortina with a black vinyl roof. One of the robbers was described as a male European, aged about 20, 173 cm tall (sft Sin), with fair hair, dark eyes, bushy eyebrows and of medium build. The other is a male, possibly dark skinned, 173 cm tall (sft Sin) of medium build with dark, close-cropped hair. The police are looking for a male, aged about 20, 180 cm (sft Ilin) tall, in

connection with the Super Value robbery. Detective Inspector Brian Williams said there were several steps businessmen could take to prevent robberies. They should watch strangers acting suspiciously, or suspicious cars. Car registration numbers should be noted and the police control room notified immediately by telephoning 111. Cash amounts on the premises should be kept as low as possible.

“They should have a decent safe, rather than have someone carrying money home late at night. “Criminals are very aware and note that people adopt certain static procedures, such as taking money home. They realise that that would be a good time to strike,” he said. When arriving at work in the mornings, businessmen should check that all appeared to be normal. One precaution would be to telephone 'someqpe 10

minutes after arriving at work each morning to.let them know that all was well. No telephone call would mean something was wrong. Robbers usually struck at night or in the mornings. Rear entrances should be kept locked, forcing people to enter through the front entrances during business hours, exposing them to other people. Safety chains should be used on doors and no-one should be allowed into the building after hours without positive identification. Detective Inspector Williams warned that robbers often disguised

themselves as technicians and tradesmen. The victim of an armed robbery should try to remain calm and be observant. “They should note anything the robber says or does and try to get a description. Special note should be made of scars, tatoos, speech impediments, accents and marks on clothing. These all help the police to identify the criminal,” he said. “Always treat an armed offender as dangerous and unpredictable. You would have to be pretty desperate to attempt an armed robbery. “W& would rather investi-

gate a robbery than a rob-bery-homicide,” said Detective Inspector Williams. Hoid-up instructions should be obeyed and victims should avoid anything that might upset or aggravate the offender. Robbery victims should not hand over more cash than necessary, he said. After the hold-up, the polite should be notified immediately by telephoning 111. Escape routes should be noted as well as the vehicle’s registration number and description. “Follow the offender, if possible, at a safe distance and get people to ring the police with progress reports

cf your whereabouts.” The scene of the crime should not be disturbed before the police were able to examine it. Any hold-up note or object handled by the offender should be preserved Detective Inspector Williams said that the police were trying to trace several suspects in connection with the robberies and relied on the public to provide any information. “Someone must see these people leaving after the crimes, but they rarely ring the police,” he said. Pamphlets on security and action to be taken during armed hold-ups were available from the police.