THIEVES IN RICCARTON

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 661, 14 January 1933, Page 15

THIEVES IN RICCARTON

Two Service Stations Broken Into. Two Riccarton service stations were broken into by thieves during Thursday night and the sum of £4 19s 8d was stolen from one and some peaches and a tin of tobacco from the other. Nothing else was missing. In one case the jamb of the door had been levered away, but the lock was not broken. Twelve months ago the Matipo Service Station, owned by Mr F. Wood, at the corner of Matipo Street and Riccarton Road, received a visit from a daring thief, who broke open the petrol pump, leaving a trail of burnt matches on the ground, and taking away several gallons of petrol. The thieves who visited the station on Thursday night burst open the door of Mr Wood’s office with tyre levers, and although £4 19s 8d had been hidden in what Mr Wood considered a safe place, found the money, after smashing open the till and leaving 4s worth of coppers on the floor. Mr Wood said last night that the theft had probably occurred between eleven o’clock and six o’clock in the morning. He had left the station shortly before eleven. A butcher boy who came early the next morning to leave a parcel noticed the door open and informed Mr Wood. The lock was a stout one and the door was closed by a turn of the key. The thieves, however, did not break the lock, but levered the jamb away from the door. They smashed the till, and finding only coppers, dropped it on the floor, scattering the contents. The £4 19s Bd, which Mr Wood thought it would have been impossible for anyone to find, was taken, together with a fountain pen. Some stock was also taken, but Mr Wood is unable to estimate its value at present. The same thieves are thought to have broken into the Crossroads Service Station, on the corner of Riccarton Road and Rattray Street, on the same night. Mr C. F. Greenslade, the proprietor, left the station before ten o’clock and in the morning found that the office had been entered and a few peaches and a tin of tobacco taken. Fortunately, there was no money in the building, while the stock was untouched.