STOLEN MOTOR CARS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3801, 18 January 1927, Page 25

STOLEN MOTOR CARS.

A LENGTHY TOUR. ARREST AND ESCAPE. AUCKLAND, January 15. After escaping from custody and eluding the police for 24 hours on the highway between Te Awamutu and Auckland, a man giving the name ■of George Htiia Brewer was arrested in a stolen motor car at Frankton at 9 ! ‘o’clock on Thursday, evening. His companion, who gave the name of George Curtis, of Auckland, was also detained. Brewer’s use of an an* lawfully converted car, and the circumstances attending the previous use of two other cars, make up the most audacious instance of motor thieving which has yet exercised the police of the Auckland district.

On December 23 an Ajax motor car was missed from Tinui, near Masterton. A few' days ago the police received advice that the car was travelling north, and every police station was advised to exercise vigilance on the main roads. On Thursday, evening Constable Gibbison, of Te Awamutu, received a message from a garage in town to the effect that a car answering the description had arrived. The constable identified the car outside a confectioner’s shop, but, as one man in it appeared to be waiting, the constable deferred action until another man came from the shop. The constable placed both under arrest and ordered them to drive to the police station. One of the men was Brewer and the other Edgar Arthur Peterson. When nearing the police station Brewer drove the car into the kerb and dash'd from the' seat. The constable saw Peterson safely in custody, and went in search of the fugitive. After tracing Brewer through several streets the police lost him on account of the darkness. The search lasted all night until the police ascertained that a Studebaker car had been removed from a 4 garage three miles along the road to Ohaupo. Tins .car was recovered close by with the benzine tank dry. It is surmised that Brewer walked’’ the rest of the distance to Ohaupo. There w r ere no doubts -regarding his movements when it was found that Mr A. Emmett’s garage at Ohaupo had been entered by a thief who vanished in a new Essex car,_ which was on the premises. A description of the car was circulated, and it was learned that it was seen proceeding north of Hamilton. The Auckland police were preparing to intercept Brewer when it was reported that he had turned south again. After reaching Bombay, motorists who saw the car in this vicinity noticed"that the driver had a companion. The car evaded a watch on the road at Huntly and Ngaruawahia, but the flight ended at Frankton. ” ’ Peterson appeared before the Police Court at Te Awamutu and was remanded, to appear at Hamilton.