THREE BURGLARIES IN CITY.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 296, 14 December 1931, Page 8

THREE BURGLARIES IN CITY.

Week-end Thefts at Garage, Store and Residence. TWO BROTHERS ARRESTED. THREE BURGLARIES occurred in the city during the week-end. The property stolen was one motor-car, £2O worth of goods, and £2O in money. The motor-car and some of the goods have been recovered. Two brothers have been arrested. They were taken into custody at Bealey yesterday, in possession, it is alleged, of the stolen car. It is stated that some of the goods, believed to have belonged to a grocery store, were found in the car.

The motor-car was stolen from the Rink Taxis garage in Chester Street on Saturday evening between eight o’clock and midnight. The burglars gained an entrance by forcing a small trap-door in the main door of the building. Once inside the building, it was an easy matter for the intruders to unbolt and open the main door and drive away with whatever vehicle they chose to steal. There was a varied assortment to choose from. It included a number of service cars, plainly branded with the names of the proprietors, two ambulances, and one or two privately-owned cars. It was the Rev P. N. Knight’s 1919 five-seater Studebaker that the burglars decided on as being most suitable for their purposes. There was no petrol in the tank, but the thieves quickly remedied that difficulty. After finding that the bowser at the garage was not in working order, they set to work to siphon the petrol out of the tank of the other vehicles parked in the building. For siphons they took the rubber tubing from thg wash rack and cut it up into handy lengths. Enough petrol -was stolen to fill the tank of the stolen car and a reserve supply, which was probably carried away in a tin. The car thieves departed leaving the caps of the petrol tanks and pieces of rubber tubing lying about

the floor. Subsequently the car was recovered at Bealey, and two men were arrested. Grocer’s Shop Entered. The stocks of Messrs Bishop and Clark, grocers, at the corner of Rossall Street and Holm wood Road were raided on Saturday evening and about £2O worth of groceries was stolen. A fanlight over a door at the back of the shop was forced open to enable a man to climb through. After an entrance had been made by this means, the back door was opened and there was nothing to prevent the thieves from helping themselves. They took, among other things, a 501 b bag of flour, two sacks of sugar, half a roll of bacon, half a ham, a large quantity of canned fish and canned fruit. The cigarette stocks were also whittled down, the proprietors being left with about five packets of each brand in stock to meet to-day’s demand. Messrs Bishop and Clark have been in business a little more than four months. It is stated that portion of the goods have been recovered. Residence Broken Into. On Saturday between 10.30 a.m. and 12.30 p.m. the residence of Mr H. C. Harley in Tui Street, Riccarton, was burgled and £2O in cash was stolen. The occupants were away when the house was broken into.