Taupo traffic officer praised by police

Press, 23 February 1987, Page 8

Taupo traffic officer praised by police

Special correspondent The Taupo police are heaping praise on a Taupo traffic officer, Mr Bob Gray, after an early

morning incident in the town on Saturday.

Traffic Officer Gray was working in the Ministry of Transport’s Heuheu Street office about 1.30 a.m. on Saturday when he heard glass breaking on the street below.

He picked up his radio telephone and called the police operations room in Rotorua, told them he was going to investigate, then raced down the stairs. At the bottom, he saw a man running across the street, carrying an armful of clothes.

He pursued and caught the man in an alleyway. In the ensuring struggle, the traffic officer’s head was bashed against the side window of a shoe shop and the window smashed.

Mr Gray tumbled through the window but his fall was stopped by a display board.

Covered in blood from

a deep cut on the shoulder and smaller cuts to the head, Mr Gray got back on his feet and resumed the chase.

Fortunately the police then arrived, responding to the’radio message Mr Gray had passed on earlier.

The police arrested a man.

Sergeant Chris Parker, of the Taupo police, yesterday praised Mr Gray for continuing the chase in spite of his injuries. The police had been able to make a swift arrest because Mr Gray had had the presence of mind to send a radio message before he began his pursuit. “It was a first-class piece of work,” said Sergeant Parker.

Traffic Officer Gray, aged 21, had three stitches in a deep cut on the right shoulder after the incident.