DUMMY UNDER A CAR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20514, 15 March 1930, Page 2 (Supplement)

DUMMY UNDER A CAR.

THIEVES' CLEVER RUSE. POLICE CHASE STOPPED. MOCK TRAGEDY AFTER ROBBERY. When closely pursued by the police, and in danger of capture, motor bandits who robbed a London furrier's shop window adopted a smart ruse to_ get away. The thieves, apparently four in number, escaped with several hundred pounds worth of furs stolen from tho shop, A master mind, it is thought, directed their operations. Tho thieves drew up in a car outsido the shop at ,1 o'clock in tho morning, threw a spare whefcl through tho plateglass windowi arid before the shower of glass had finished falling wero insido securing the goods on show. To clear tho window took only a few seconds, but the crash of glass had made a terrific noise. Tho thieves drovo off just when a policeman, who had detected them, commandeered a taxicab, A hot pursuit followed in the narrow and winding streets of tho neighbourhood, and tho bandits were unable to throw off their pursuers. Suddenly the policeman, a civilian who had como to his assistance, and tho taxicab driver wero horrified tG see a " woman" drop from tho car they wero pursuing and fall directly in their path. There was no timo to swerve, and the

driver of the cab jammed on his brakes, but -without avail. With two .bumps the wheels of . the taxi went over the prostrate form. The constable and his assistant ran back to give first aid to the casualty, but saw with horror that the " woman" had been decapitated. A hand also was lying some distance away. Then the pursuers discovered they had been cleverly fooled. The taxieab had merely crushed a was dummy from the shop window. Still" dressed and wearing an expensive coat, the dummy had been grabbed by the raiders from the fur shop. They had not the time to strip the coat from it when the chase began. The ruse gave the bandits their chance to get clear. As the dummy's face bore blood smears the police believed that one of the raiders was badly cub when the window was smashed, and that they turned their misfortune to account at the last moment. " Whether the smearing was pre-ar-ranged or not," said the managing director of the company owning the business, " it was stage-managed with great skill. The ' woman' looked a ghastly sight when the police car drew up. A street lamp happened to be throwing a yellow light on ' her'! By the time the police discovered they were looking at nothing more horrible, than broken wax, the bandits had disappeared."