THIEVES LEAVE BOOTY BEHIND.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19240, 29 November 1930, Page 32 (Supplement)

THIEVES LEAVE BOOTY BEHIND.

WERE DISTURBED WHEN RIFLING BLENHEIM SHOP I'er Press Association BLENHEIM, November 28. i wo daring thieves were operating in Blenheim in the' early hours of yesterday morning when, after making an unsuccessful attempt to enter a shop in Alfred Street, they were surprised in the act of getting together the “swag" in premises in Market Street north, occupied by Mr Clifford M’Kay, mercer and men's outfitter. They stole the sum of £2 in money, but decamped when disturbed, abandoning bundles of goods which they had apparently intended to remove. Mr M’Kay, who was summoned bv the police early in the morning, arrived at the shop to learn that the front door had been burst open and the place ransacked. The door, which had been forced, bore marks of an inch-wide jemmy just below the lock. The contents of the shop had been turned topsy-turvy, the floor and counter being littered with stock which the marauders had sorted over while selecting the best quality articles for removal. Saw Light Burning. Constable Morrison, who was on night duty, saw a light burning in the shop window of M’Kay’s premises, and proceeded to investigate. With consummate coolness, the thieves, in order to

work in comfort, had switched on the light inside the shop, but, unknown to them, the switch also operated lights in the window which had attracted the constable’s attention. When the policeman approached, a man who had an armful of clothing dropped the “swag" and, eluding the constable, bolted from the premises. Behind the counter was another man in the act of pocketing money which had just been removed from the till. lie wore an overcoat, the collar of which was turned well up, and he had a hat pulled down over his eyes. The astonished burglar turned and fled into a back room when he saw the constable, and the latter' immediately gave chase, expecting to trap the thief. However, the burglars had prepared for a hurried departure by opening the back door as well as the front, and the constable's quarry showed a clean pair of heels in making their getaway through the backyards of adjoining premises. It was discovered later in the morning that an attempt had also been made to force the door of Mr F. Thomas’s, tobacconist, shop, in Alfred Street, but the lock had resisted the attack. It is b&ieved that the same men were concerned, because the marks on the door tally with the size of the jemmy used to effect entry into Mr M Kay’s premises.