CITY BURGLARY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22193, 21 August 1935, Page 10

CITY BURGLARY

JEWELLER'S PREMISES DARING RAID MADE GOODS WORTH £llOO TAKEN ENTRY BY BARRED WINDOW LARGE SAFE BLOWN OPEN Gold in bars, platinum, silver and unset gems of almost every variety, as well as a quantity of jewellery, of a total value of about £llOO, were stolen by an expert burglar who broke into the shop of Mr. James Pascoe, jeweller, in Karangahape Road, Newton, on Monday night or early yesterday morning. A largo safe in one of the offices was neatly blown open, and is believed to have yielded a valuable find to the thief —a key to fit the workroom safe, from which the bulk of the property was taken. The theft was performed in a manner distinctly similar to a more serious burglary at the same establishment on September 20 last year, when jewellery Avorth over £1.300 was stolen. On that occasion the thieves entered through the skylight and left by the back door, taking their haul of valuables, most of which were later recovered by detectives. Additional precautions taken since the j previous theft to make the shop proof I against burglars were overcome by the j intruder of Monday night, who attacked the premises from the roof of an adjoinI ing building, as was done last year. A ! pane of reinforced glass in one of the I top-storey windows of Mr. Pascoe's preI mises was smashed, and with a. hack- : saw, the burglar cut through one of | the stout iron bars set six inches apart ! across every window. The bar was then i bent and twisted until it could be pulled ; from the socket at the top of the i window. The hole through which the man entered was only 18in. high and , a foot wide.

Down-pipe Scaled by Thief Marks on a down-pipe at the back of the premises of Rendell's, Limited, in Cross Street, indicated that the thief scaled the pipe to gain thej roof and walked a considerable distance over iron roof-tops to reach the jewellery store. Once having reached the roof, he could work in comparative security to cut the bar, as he would be hidden from any passers-by in the vicinity. The burglary was discovered by Mr. A. Pascoe, jun., manager of the shop, when he opened the premises for business at eight o'clock yesterday morning. The whole shop, from basement to workrooms on the top floor, was in disorder, and an inspection showed that the intruder, after collecting all the valuables accessible, had left by the window through which he had entered, locking the door between the upper showroom and the workroom, so that it was necessary for one of the staff to break his way in yesterday morning. Safe Opened by Explosion Once inside the workroom, the thief apparently made a systematic search of the offices both on the upper floor and downstairs behind the shop. In one- of the upper offices a large safe had been moved from its position against the wall, set down on the floor and skilfully blown open. A length of carpet from the showroom floor, and a number of cushions, were packed round the safe to muffle the sound of the explosion. Inside the safe was a cashbox, which was broken open, and £4 was taken, while it is believed that the thief also found some keys in the safe. With one of the keys thought to have been taken from tie broken safe the intruder was able to open a smaller safe in the workroom. This contained a large Quantity of materials for the manufacture of jewellery, including precious metals and small boxes of unset diamonds, pearls, rubies, emeralds, sapphires and other gems. There was also a number of pieces of jewellery in the course of manufacture. Practically every article in the safe was stolen. Goods Taken From Showcase A cursory inspection of showcases and drawers in the upper showroom, where stocks of crockery, crystal and silver plate are displayed, revealed nothing that attracted the thief, who then turned his attention to -the main shop and the offices behind it on the ground floor. Apparently confident of not being disturbed, the thief worked in the shop by the light of three electric lamps which are left burning throughout the night. He opened one of the showcases near the front door,, and removed a quantity of gold and rolled-gold bangles, signet rings, gem-set rings and gold-mounted trinkets, scattering about the floor the cases and mounts from which the articles had been taken. No attempt to break into the strongroom, which is on the ground floor at the back of the shop, was made by the intruder, possibly because the powerful explosion which would have been necessary to make any impression on the door would have brought hundreds of pieces of crystal and china, arranged on shelves near by, crashing to the floor with a noise that must have attracted attention. Bunches of Keys Found Bunches of keys of all shapes and sizes, apparently brought by the thief, were found in various parts of the shop yesterday morning. They were handed to the police, together with a new hacksaw which was found in the office where the safe was blown. open. Although the jewellery taken by the thief represents a large sum, a member of the firm said yesterday that the quantity missing was not sufficient to cause any dislocation of business. Fortunately, the firm carried largo reserve stocks, and was able to draw on them in such emergencies. A staff of detectives was assigned to the case shortly after the burglary was discovered yesterday. They were occupied for the greater part of the morning with a close examination of the premises, and, with the assistance of the shop staff, in making an inventory of the missing property.