BURGLARY SENSATION

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXVI, Issue 3443, 15 March 1932, Page 5

BURGLARY SENSATION

TWO SHOPS ENTERED. ATTEMPTS MADE ON FOUR OTHERS. Some excitement was caused on Sunday morning when it was known that two shops in Rora Street had been broken into an attempt made on four others. Mr. N. A. Davidson was passing Mr. A. D. McLennan's shop in Rora Street when he noticed that the glass in the'door was broken. Mr. Davidson telephoned Mr. McLennan, who arrived on the scene a few minutes later. An investigation showed that while none of the stock had been interfered with, the sum of £4 12s. had been taken from the cash register. The police were then communicated with, and it was discovered that the Diamond Stores had also been entered by prising the door open with an iron instrument. Two empty sardine tins and some broken biscuits were found on the counter, showing that the burglar had regaled himself with a meal. Underneath the counter an opened tin of herrings was found, but this evidently did not meet the taste of the marauder, who preferred sardines. A box of 500 cigarettes was also missing from the Diamond Stores. Further investigations showed that an attempt had been made to enter the shops of Mr. A. Allison, Messrs. Mason and Dobson, Mr. R. Dooley, and Mr. J. E. Ridge. In each case an attempt had been made to prise open the front door, but in the case of Mr. Ridge's shop a window was broken at the back of the premises, but this window being nailed on the inside, the burglar tried the front door, but this had a double lock, the same means preventing an entry into three other premises. The door of the Diamond Stores was forced open, but evidently the thief was exasperated with his futile attempts to do the same with Mr. McLennan's shop, where the thick plate glass was broken by.a blow from a heavy instrument, the glass being shattered eight feet inside the shop. The thief then got his hand inside and turned the lock.

Early Morning Raid

The nightwatchman, Mr. Stuart, stated that he went home at 5 o'clock, his usual time. He oassed all the shops mentioned above at 4.30, and everything was in order, as he tried each door to see that it was locked. This would indicate that the thefts took place after that time. When Mr. Stuart was making his final round he noticed a car with four lights at the corner of King and Rora Streets. The driver appeared to have had some difficulty with the car, which was running in low gear when it ran down King Street, along Taupiri Street, to Sheridan Street, and then through Rora Street to the Waitete Road, when Mr. Stuart lost sight of it, though he heard its progress through the car being in low gear the whole time. Mr. McCarthy, of the Railway Station, also .saw a car about the same time.

The Escaped Prisoner.

The escaped prisoner Bennett was seen at Pio Pio on Saturday, and later it was reported that he was seen on the Pio Pio-Mairoa Road. Mr. Richards' stolen car was found in a disused quarry about a mile from Pio Pio in the afternoon. Whether Bennett has any connection with the Te Kuiti burglaries is hard to determine. No other car is reported missing and it would be a long walk from the Pio Pio-Mairoa Road to Te Kuiti. Bennett at one time lived in the Marakopa district and has a good knowledge of this part of the King Country.