ARREST MADE

Southland Times, Issue 21604, 16 January 1932, Page 5

ARREST MADE

PAYROLL ROBBERY MAN APPREHENDED AT DUNEDIN INCIDENT SIX MONTHS AGO After six and a half months, during ■which time the Invercargill police have been making exhaustive and continuous investigations all over the countryside, an arrest has been made in connection with the Ocean Beach payroll robbery. Acting en information supplied by the detective branch of the Invercargill police, the Dunedin police arrested a man at Dunedin yesterday afternoon. He will be charged with the theft of the money this morning. It was on July 3 of last year that the sum of .£837 4/2, representing tha weekly payroll of the employees of the Ocean Beach Freezing 'Works, was stolen from a motor car in Maitland street at the southend of the city. The news of the robbery caused a sensation in Invercargill, its simplicity, if extreme daring, completely baffling the most expert theorists. Pay Clerk’s Brief Absence. The money, which was in a leather bag, was stolen while the pay clerk (Mr G. McChesney) was calling at his home fo.' a few moments before proceeding to Bluff, and although no one was seen about just before he went indoors and nobody was in sight when he returned only a minute or two later, the bag containing the payroll was removed in the brief interim. In accordance with long established custom, Mr McChesney came to Invercargill during the morning to collect the money due to the men for their week’s work. The sum of £837 4/2 was drawn from the bank in cash and, naturally enough, the monev was all in small sums, the highest denomination being £5 notes. Each individual worker’s wages were made up and put into envelopes at the Invercargill office of Messrs J. G. Ward and Company, in tho Crescent.

The payroll was placed in a leather bag which was not locked, and Mr McChesney left the office about noon in his car, an open touring model. On his way to Ocean Beach, he stopped for a few moments at his house in Maitland street, South Invercargill, and after making slight adjustments to his engine, went indoors to wash bls hands and collect his overcoat.

He was away only for a very few minutes, but when he returned the bag was missing. Nobody was in sight, and the absence of the bag was the only testimony that the robbery had been committed. Clues Scarce. The police were informed immediately Mr McChesney discovered the loss, but clues were not prolific in view of the fact that no one appeared to have been seen in the vicinity during the brief period that the clerk was away. Although Mr McChesney had, on rare occasions, called at his house before proceeding to the works, it was by no means his usual practice, and it was assumed at the time that the thief had knowledge that the money would be in the car and took advantage of the driver’s brief absence. Maitland street is a blind thoroughfare, and although fairly thickly populated, is a quiet locality. It was regarded possible that- the thief might have known of the customary procedure and was hiding close at hand for an opportunity to make his coup. The robbery, which was behoved to be the largest of its kind in the history of Southland, remained a mystery, although every avenue of inquiry was exhausted at the time. These investigations were not allowed to drop, however, and for the past six months the Invercargill detective force, with Detective-Sergeant Hewitt in charge of operations, have followed up every clue and theory. On several occasions they were within an ace of success, but always coincidence or other hindrance has thwarted their efforts.