FUGITIVE IN LOFT

Evening Star, Issue 19549, 6 May 1927, Page 6

FUGITIVE IN LOFT

Four Weeks in Hiding

Living on Champagne and Potted Delicacies

About a month ago the skylight’ of Messrs Neill and Co.’s bond store was broken in, the only clue left for the police being a man’s overcoat and a pair of boots which were left on the roof outside. No sign of tho man could be found, - but the skylight, when mended, was so strongly barricaded that it would have been impossible for anyone to either enter or leave the building by this mean?, while the doors are just as stoutly guarded. The mystery was not unravelled until this morning, when by sheer chance a man named Arthur George Rennie was discovered in the loft above the store, wearing a four weeks’ growth of beard, and, though he was clothed sufficiently well,, he was wearing no boots. The loft in which lie had evidently been living, is rarely visited, and his habitation presented yivi ! signs of iiow he had existed during the past few weeks on provisions obtained from Messrs Neil! and Co.’s store. Rennie has not yet appeared at tho Police Court, but it is believed that when he does so a sensational story as to his modo of living will be disclosed, while it is also stated that he is the man tho police have been looking for on a number of other charges.

It appears that about four weeks ago Messrs Neill and Co. and the police were presented with a difficult problem as the skylight of the firm’s store had been broken and a man’s boots ami overcoat left outside. Rennie had used a ladder belonging- to a local builder to get from one roof to another, and when he entered the store of Messrs Neil! and Co. ho dragged this with him. and took it with him when he prepared to make his homo in the loft above the store, this being a portion of tho building which is rarely used. After the broken window was mended the skylight was protected by heavy expanded metal, and thus when Rennie came to make his exit from the building in which he had jived so_ lavishly he found himself a prisoner within the confines of its four walls, and there for four weeks he has remained, hidden by day and plundering by night. Determined to make his confinement as comfortable as possible Rennie made himself a cosy bed of straw, using sacks for covering. He moved from his sanctuary at night for the purpose of obtaining'provisions and luxuries for tho following day, and though his diet has consisted mainly of tinned 'foods, such as meats, pineapples, oysters, and sardines, his liquid refreshment has

Startling Discovery in Bond

A surprising discovery w as made by a small boy, who this morning put his head over the top of a loft under the roof of Messrs Neill and Co.’s bond in Crawford street. Having occasion to visit the loft for some cards, the boy unexpectedly heard a rustle of sacks, and discovered a man lurking at the far edge against the wall. The police were immediately summoned, and found that the man was one for whom they had been looking for weeks past.

been of the best, comprising champagne, port wine, ale, and cordials. Rennie might have remained undiscovered for weeks, but that a small boy in the employ of Neill and Co. had occasion to go to the loft this morning round .about 11 o’clock in order to obtain some cards, and as he mounted the roof he heard the rustle of sacks and observed a man crouching -there." The police were immediately sent for, and when apprehended Rennie was found to be in a very disreputable condition, and his lair was literally littered with the remains of the spoils oju which he had existed for the past four weeks.

Empty cigarette packets were there in scores, and it is a puzzle how he managed to get into the room containing these, ns j,"liey arc housed in a place to which access would have been difficult. Empty tins that had contained tinned meats, sardines, and fruits, and champagne, port wine, and cordial bottles were strewn all over the roof, and altogether tho appearance of the loft shows that tbe man, at any rate, lived well, if not too wisely. Apparently Rennie bad a cold at ono period of his enforced imprisonment, and his plight then was a far from happy one. One cough would have betrayed him, but even in this extremity ho showed ingenuity by securing two bottles of a lung preserver to cure his cold, this evidently proving successful.

When he was seized Rennie looked in good condition, as well ho might, for he has been living on tho fat of tho land for weeks past. Ho had four weeks’ growth of beard, and was in a very unkempt state. Apparently in a drunken condition, he nad thrown a match among his sacking, which had smouldered, with the result that one side of his face was badly singed and smoke was seen issuing from the loft where he was found.

Rennie, who was then wearing no boots, is a small, though stockily-built, man, and, though, on account of his disreputable and unkempt appearance, it was almost impossible to tell his age, it may be anything between thirty and forty. He is well-known, having worked as a gardener for some of Dunedin’s prominent citizens, and not so long ago he painted the roof of Messrs Neill and Co.’s bond store.

It is believed thnt Rennie is the man who has been cracking cribs at Waitati, Mihiwaka, and Macandrew Bay, and it is stated that many such charges will be preferred against him.