Burglars flee paraplegic

Press, 21 July 1988, Page 7

Burglars flee paraplegic

A paraplegic taking a bath disturbed two burglars in his home yesterday morning.

Senior-Sergeant John Doyle said the paraplegic, who lives in Avonside Drive, was in his bath at 7.45 a.m. when two men broke in.

He yelled out and the pair fled. They drove away in a blue Hillman Minx.

® A school patrol will be introduced at Somerfield School from Monday to give pupils safer passage across Barrington Street. The school has previously used Standard 4 pupils as traffic wardens, who permit pupils to cross only when gaps appear in the traffic.

An assessment by the school committee and Ministry of Transport included traffic counts, and has led to the school patrol system being introduced.

© A man, aged 50, has been arrested on a charge of wounding with reckless disregard for the safety of others as a result of a domestic incident in an Aranui house on Monday. During the incident a woman suffered a neck wound, believed to have been caused by a fork.

The man was arrested after his discharge from Christchurch Hospital,

where he was treated for knife wounds to the chest which the police are treating as self-inflicted. He has been given police bail and will appear in the District Court on July 27.

® Clothing and sleeping bags designed for mountaineers and trampers were stolen in a burglary of Macpac Wilderness Equipment, Ltd, in Riccarton, on Monday night.

Thieves forced a toilet window and removed the items, valued about $7OOO. They include four sleeping bags, vests, jackets, pullovers, trousers, underwear and packs. A camp stove was also stolen.

® Denim clothing valued at $7OOO was stolen in a burglary of Hallensteins in New Brighton Mall on Tuesday night. It is one of four burglaries reported at the mall recently. The largest was on the night of July 5 when burglars entered The Baby Factory and stole about $30,000 of baby clothing. The Countdown and Dollarwise supermarkets have been burgled and cigarettes valued at several thousand dollars stolen

The New Brighton police said the Hallen-

steins burglary appeared to involve only jeans. The burglars smashed a front window and removed Amco stonewash, ice-wash and moon-wash jeans.

© Two chemists’ shops were burgled in Christchurch early yesterday. Prebbles Pharmacy, at the corner of Stanmore Road and North Avon Road, Richmond, had front glass smashed soon after 2.15 a.m. Two men were seen running from the shop, one carrying boxes of tablets. A small quantity of drugs, including codeinebased painkillers, was stolen.

The Opawa Pharmacy, in Opawa Road, was entered about 3 a.m. by burglars who broke through the front door. The police were awaiting a list of stolen property.

® Telephones and related equipment valued at more than $14,000 were stolen in a Kilmore Street burglary on Monday night. ® A fire which damaged a small shed at the rear of a Colombo Street, St Albans, property early yesterday is being treated as suspicious.

The fire was reported to the Fire Service at 1.49 a.m. The Christchurch C. 1.8. and fire-safety officers are investigating.