BANK ROBBERY

Northern Advocate, 31 July 1924, Page 5

BANK ROBBERY

MANAGER LURED AWAY. BOGUS TELEPHONE CALL. TELLER GRAPPLES INTRUDER. (Received 9 a.m.) MELBOURNE, This Day. By a clever ruse the Canterbury branch of the Commercial Bank was robbed of £500 in single and live pound notes. When he arrived in the morning the manager, Mr Morgan, found the telephone out of order and a few minutes later a neighbouring shopkeeper told him he was wanted by the head office on the shop telephone.

When Mr Morgan left to go to phone the teller, Mr W. Chittick, entered the bank and was confronted by an armed man who told him not to move or he would be shot. The intruder then snatched the bank revolver from

the wall and grabbed a handful of notes from a drawer. Mr Chittick rushed for another revolver in the

manager's room and as he secured it the robber closed with him. Mr Chittick fired a s"hot, but missed, and tho man replied with two shots, wounding Mr Chittick in the food and hand. The thief then escaped through the back door.

The robbery was evidently carefully planned, as t'he bank telephone wires were cut and the manager found when he went to the shop that he was not wanted on the telephone, an accomplice having apparently rung him to decoy' him from the bank, while- t'he other must have obtained entrance to the bank in the early hours of the morning.—A. and N.Z. INTIMATE KNOWLEDGE. POLICE BAFFLED. (Received 1.30 p.m.) MELBOURNE, This Day. The bank robber secured £568. The telephone wires had been cut inside the bank, apparently by someone with an intimate knowledge of the premises. After Mr Chittock fired the first shot the intruder closed with him and a desperate struggle followed. The furniture was upset and smashed. Eventually the revolver was wrested from the teller's hand and the man fired two shots, wounding Mr Chittock in the left hand and left foot, compelling him to release his hold. The robber then rushed to the counter and secured the notes, escaping over the back fence. He dropped 28 single notes, which were found later. The manager, who had gone out to try to get into telephone to.uch with the head office, returned after the struggle was over and found Mr Chittock wounded. The police were called quickly to the scene, but failed to discover any clue. Mr Chittock„ who is ia .returned soldied, was conveyed to hospital. His wounds are not serious. A neighbouring shopkeeper heard the shots, but thought that the bank employees were indulging in a little practice. It is evident from the manner in which the telephone wires were cut and tho alacrity with which the robber seized the teller's revolver that he had an intimate knowledge of the banking premises. An interesting fact is that at the Commercial Bank in the neighbouring suburb of Glenferne the manager, Mr Berriman, was killed in somewhat similar circumstances last year. The scene of the robbery is in tho centre of the business premises of Canterbury.—A. and N.Z.