THEFT OF PETROL

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 232, 27 June 1932, Page 10

THEFT OF PETROL

Cool Robbery in City 134] GALLONS TAKEN Locks on Pumps Broken DISCOVERY BY WATCHMAN With unusual audacity thieves burst the locks of two petrol pumps in the city and stole 134 J gallons of petrol on Saturday afternoon or evening.

A group of three pumps, owned by Magnus Motors, Ltd., stand in Opera House Lane, which runs down the side of the Grand Opera House, from Manners Street to Wakefield Street. The locks of two of these were found by a nightwatchman to have been broken, and the fact that a large quantity of netrol had been stolen was soon discovered. A third lock had not been tampered with. After the locks had been smashed the petrol was evidently pumped from the tanks to the waiting vehicle or vehicles. The discovery that the locks had been broken was made at 9.45 o’clock, but it is not known whether the theft was carried out during the afternoon or the evening, or at various times during both, or whether a single heavy lorry or a number of smaller vehicles were used, but it is apparent that it is the work of a gang. The attendant locked the pumps at noon, and from then until the discovery of the theft 134) gallons of spirit passed through the tubes. .