A BANK ROBBERY

Otago Witness, Issue 3673, 5 August 1924, Page 19

A BANK ROBBERY

TELLER’S BRAyE FIGHT. TWICE WOUNDED BY" THIEFMELBOURNE, July 30. By a clever ruse the Canterbury branch of the Commercial Bank was robbed of £SOO in single and five-pound notes When he arrived in the morning the manager, Mr Morgan, found that the telephone was out of order, and a few minutes later a neigbouring shopkeeper told him that he was wanted by the head office on the shop telephone. After Mr Morgan had left to go to the telephone a teller named 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 a bank revolver from the wall and grabbed a handful of notes from a drawer. Mr Chittick rushed for another revolver which was in the manager’s room, and as he secured it the robber closed with him. Mr Chittick fired a shot but missed, and the man replied with two shots, wounding Mr Chittick in the foot and hand. The thief then escaped through the bank door. The robbery had evidently been carefully planned, as the bank telephone wires had been cut, and the manager found when he went to the shop that he was not wanted on the telephone. An accomplice had apparently rung up to decoy him from the bank, while the other must have effected an entrance to the bank in the early hours of the morning. July 31. The bank robber secured £568. The telephone wires had been cut inside tne 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 wrenched from the teller’s hand. The man fired two shots, wounding Mr Chittock in the left hand, and the left foot, compelling him to release his hold, llie robber then rushed to the counter and secured the notes. In escaping over the fence he dropped 28 single notes, which were found later. The manager, who had gone out to try to get into telephone communication with the head office, returned after the struggle was over. He found Mr Chittock wounded. The police were called and were quickly on the scene, but they failed to discover any clue. Mr Chittock is a returned soldier. He was conveyed to hospital. His wounds are not serious. Neighbouring shopkeepers heard the shots, but thought the bank employees were indulging in a little practice. It is evident from the manner in which the telephone wires were cut and the alacrity with which the robber seized the teller’s revolver that he had knowledge of the banking premises. An interesting fact is that at the Commercial Bank in the neighbouring suburb of Ulenfeirie the manager (Mr Berriman) was killed in somewhat similar circumstances last year. The scene of the robbery is in the centre of the business premises of Canterbury. DEVELOPMENTS ANTICIPATED. MELBOURNE, August o. Sensational developments are anticipated in connection with the Canterbury bank robbery and an early arrest is expected. Mr Chittock, tlih wounded teller, underwent an operation at the hospital for t-hc extraction of the bullet from his foot, and is making good progress.