SHOT HITS TYRE OF FUGITIVES CAR

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21980, 26 March 1946, Page 6

SHOT HITS TYRE OF FUGITIVES CAR

Constable C. W. Haresnapes, of Levin came across a Buick car near Ihakara, a farming settlement five miles from Levin at about 5.30 p.m. He fired a shot which hit .the bottom of the rear tyres, causing the car to go over a bank. Before going for reinforcements the constable saw one man leave the car.

When reinforcements from the Wellington, Palmerston North and district centres reached the scene the car was found abandoned and an immediate hunt for the men commenced in the area. All the police are armed, as it is fairly well established that the bandits have at least two sub-machine guns, probably Sten-guns, in their possession.

The bullet taken froin the wall of the bank which was fired at the teller was either a misfit for a .38 revolver or a real .38 Sten-gun cartridge. In an interview the bank manager, Mr. Torrens, said that he only actually saw three men, but he had been told of a fourth man sitting in the car at the wheel. Only three, so far as he knew entered the bank. All three

were hooded with a sort of Ku Klux Klan headgear. Two wore a military style of overcoat. One was shorter than the other. That was all Mr. Torrens could remember as to their physical appearance. The money taken was from the teller’s cash in his drawer. No attempt was made to open the strongroom, which contained a very large sum. The manager and teller each had keys .to the strongroom. When the two bandits first entered the bank and threatened the teller he had a revolver in his drawer, but when he made a move to duck below the counter a shot was fired, apparently from the Sten-gun. the bullet missing the teller and burying itself in the plaster. It was probably a warning shot and it made the teller drop to the floor. As he did so, another man dashed round through an inside door to .the teller’s compartment and hit Mr. Allen on the head as he was rising. . The incident happened so quickly that he had no chance of getting his revolver.