SHOT BY POLICE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 5 April 1926, Page 6

SHOT BY POLICE

W ANTLI) MAN KILI.KH DRAMATIC CLIMA.N l'<> (MASK The dramatic hilling of Desiie La C-j'.iri, am U' i < riminal. b\ a j>olia"na:t ~: ;•: ihr.iwtd, New South Wales, wj-s In" (ii;:;i.-. of a p:.v,i hunt in v.fjioh the pui.i.-w ji.el |-':e- : bes'..v.i 4 u; ve';ks Auckland Sui'm A da: ing and dang, i'o'.:s ct imiual. tie ugh mil previously regarded as ;i ,|i. penile man. La Coun slipped tln i n.'ii lite police l.e| throe times dm hit! the wet L end. all.l Was again show i„e j, ~|,.; m p;,ii , r h.-.-ls who,, Constable MM!,., ,1, fired and finally v., nu.led him al It it I id. Ile was w;oiled in ci uiiecl ion wii Ii ;i ruiinbei' ~i receii! shop-breaking episodes, hauls 1. t i/i which totalled some ihing in the region of £2OOO. It was elaimed agairiil him thiit he stt le cars and .used them in whit h to I ransporl lie- goods lie stole i,, various depots in the t-üburbs. Three weeks ago the ciuise became a definite vendetta between La (Vint and the police. At Ryde be was discovered in ;i van!, but though shots were fired at him by a police sergeant La Court vaulted a fence and escaped. A wee!: later lie was seen in a stolen car with his wife. Police rushed the ( ac. Inn La Conn jumped <>ui and disapp'l ared ill a side stteet. Ills wife was arrested al ihe linn . though the charm' Mine his death, was been with drawn. A; the week end liele, liv. s I cei\ ed deliniie information thai he was living al Manly, and live of lliem raided his home. La Court must have seen them coining, and lie dived through a side window, slipped under (he house, and was lOOvariis away when they sighted him. Ile was elad only in sinfiet and Iron sirs, and was barefooted, hut he look a. six-footed barbed wire fence in his stride and was .-cm in Ihe scrub ~n the fringe of Kieiich's Lores!. 1,1 ihe forest itself his pursuers lost trace of him. Later thai afternoon. however, he hailed a mot,.rist going through Ihe forest, and with Ihe aid of a revolver he pressed into the drhor's ribs induced ihe man lo drive him lo KidforY. Load. Chats.wood. There he left the car. and though the driver saw thai he had huge blisters on i, ... icei. ran into the scrub i»i the side ci the ioad. As soon as the police were informed of his proximity two constables rushed to the spol and saw him sitting about 40 yards from the road. La Court look lo bis heels again a I their aprpoach. and though the country is rugged and precipitous, lie dashed down one hillside and climbed an almost, perpendicular cliff t., escape- on the Roseville side. This despite the fact that bis pursuers fired five shots after him. Prom Roseveille he must have moved SWl'fllv . He had money wilh him. and il was later ibscvvred that be had lea at I'ymble. miles up the line, explaining his clothing by the statement thai lie was doing a rush jo'b in a sewer. Later, he .stole a car from a garage id I'ymble, and definitely disappeared for tiie first time in the week-end. The description of ihe stolen car was broadcasted to all police stations, and the Richmnii* sergeant received in on Sunday morning. lie started an immediate search of Ihe district, and soon located the stolen car in the garage at Die Rlack IL.rse llotei . lie learned ilia! a man answering La Conn's description had booked a room in the nai f I,'. Jones, and had gone out in a, service car. Obtaining the services of a plainclothes man living m n u , town. Ihe sergeant set a watch on the hotel. About 3.30 p.m. La Court returned in a ear, and ran into Ihe hole!. The police, who hail been hiding on Ibe opposite side of (he stio.'t. followed him. The wanted man saw them coining again, and Marled on the run for the backyard. • lie was an athlei ie man. and was mil ' distancing thctn when Kiev tailed on him to slop. lie disregarded them, and a sllnl was bred over his head. This onlv made him run faster. He was then' in Ihe back-yard and nearing a fence. Over ibis lay safely for him. Constable APOeoch .the plain -Hollies man. then fired to wound La Conn. .-\i ihe moment he [.idled the Digger, lie tripped over the root ol a tree, and ihe bullet wem high, si Wiring ihe fugitive in Ihe back of the head. He fell in his tracks. A doctor was called in. and ordered his removal lo hospital, but he died without regaining consciousness. In bis possession at ||„. | 10( ,.| v -. |s loan,l some stolen proper!v. while al his Manly resilience the police recovered 1 ed hundreds of pounds' worth of new goods, recently stolen from shops La Court was married, and had" two ehildren. He had a long criminal historv.