FIGHT IN A HOTEL.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14, 17 January 1914, Page 3

FIGHT IN A HOTEL.

A SMART CAPTURE

DETECTIVE AND MAN WITH A GUN.

A sensational affair is reported to have occurred in Coker's Hotel, Manchester Street, Christelmrch, on Wednesday morning, a violent struggle for .supremacy enduing between a detective and a man .wihom ho wished to intei-view in refei-elice to a /burglary that Mad occurred irithe neighborhood some hours befoj-e. Late op Tuesday night or in the ] early hours of Wednesday . morning I the saddlery establishment of Messrs < Triggs and1 Denton, Manchester! Street South, was broken into aaid L some gold and- bronze medals j abstracted -from a case. Entrance ■ was effected through a window at the back of the premises. j Acting upon ■information received, : Detective Ilegan proceeded to Gbkecr's Hotel at about 11 o'clock in the morning, and went up to a man standing in tho main entrance. 'As r~ the detective approached, it is alleged the man's hand went to his hippocket, and fearing trouble the detective grappled 'with him. Thereupon a. violcart struggle took place, tho two contestants fighting and grappling with each other in the main entrance hall, in a side passage, and in the bar. Meantime an urgent summons had gone out for assistance, and Detective O'Connor made his appearance on the scene.

; The two officers had the man handj. cuffed and conveyed to the police station, where he was searched, and in his hip-pocket was found a sevenchambered revolver, fully-loaded, whilst, a box of cartridges', was also j discovered in his possession. It is ( stated that there- were also found on | him some of tine missing articles from jthe shop. I'llo chain of circumstances which led to the arrest is rather remarkable. About 9 a.m. the barman of the hotel in which the alleged burglar' was arrested found a gold medal lying, on the floor of a lavatory near th© bar. He took the medal to the [ manager of the hotel, who saw that the names "Triggs -mad Denton" wore engraved on it. The manager went to Messrs Triggs and Denton's shop, meaning to return the medal, and I then learned that a burglary had \ taken place there. He then went ! back and questioned the baa'man as to i-the cutomers who had come into thebar, that morning. The barman eaid I that with the exception of one man, I who happened to be- in the bar at tho [moment, all the people who had come :in were known to him; svo naturally I enough the maamger suspected that . the solitary occupant of the bar, who j was sitting in a. corner, mighfc be con- | nected with the burglary. Ho therej fore rang up the police station, stated i the facts of the case, and asked that a. couple of detectives should be sent down to interrogate the .man. Only one officer, Detective Jiegan, came 1 along, and when he arrived he spoke to the man, a,nd asked him to com© j outside into the passage. The man ■ went with the officer, but directly ' they got outside 'Detective Regan caw the sur.pcct put his Land into his coat ' pocket and clutch something there. i The officer grabbed the maire hand, I ■...-■

and at once" felt a revolver in the pocket. Then began a fierce struggle. The detective could not let go of the revolver, and had only one free hand to stall off the onslaught of his opponent, who fought like a tiger, using feet and hands• impartially in his efforts to resist arrest. The two men .struggled hard, and were pretty well matched, judging by the lengthened period of the melee, and though some of the hotel staff were willing to assist, the detective preferred to do the business himself. The manager of the hotel Avent outside to see if he could get a constable, but there were none about, and it was lucky that just at ihat moment he saw another detective.strolling up the street. Ho called him, and even with the united forces the officers had a strenuous tussle to get the man handcuffed. Eventually this was done, a couple of pairs of "bracelets" being put on for good measure, and the man was taken to the station in a cab. "Altogether, it was one of the hardest scraps that I have seen," said a bystander.