SHOT FIRED

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20277, 11 April 1934, Page 7

SHOT FIRED

MOTOR-VAN HELD UP NEAR TEMPLETON. Wire Across Road. BULLET LODGED IN DOOR OF CAR. A rather amateur attempt at a holdup. in which the nerve of the wouldbe highwayman appears to have failed him at the last moment, occurred about 6.45 p.m. yesterday near Mr Plimmer’s farm on Newton Road, between Templeton and West Melton. Elaborate and effective preparations were made for holding up cars, and the man responsible appears to have stood behind a hedge with a gun and watched his intended victim without screwing his courage to attacking point till the vehicle had driven away again. Mr M. B. Kissel, who drives the delivery van for the firm of G. P. Kissel, Ltd., Templeton, was taking the vehicle, a Rugby, back from West Melton at the conclusion of his round, when he found two wires stretched across the road a little higher than the bonnet of the van. Fortunately he was going slowly and managed to stop the van as the wires touched his windscreen. The wires were tied from a bluegum on one side of the road to a post on the other. Suspicions Aroused. Ignorant of the fact that he was being watched by an armed man, Mr Kissel got out of the van to clear away the obstruction. His suspicions were aroused, so on alighting he spoke out loudly as if he were addressing someone in the car. He said “ I must get out and clear this.” His actions and words apparently deceived the person responsible for the hold-up into believing that Mr Kissel had a companion. The wires having been removed, Mr Kissel drove off. As he did so he heard a sound that he took to be caused by a stone striking the van, but to-day he found that a 22 calibre bullet had penetrated the door of the van just below the handle, had driven through the metal sheeting, and was protruding through the leather on the inside. The police were notified of the occurrence last night, an an early search revealed footmarks behind some trees at the point of the hold-up, where somebody had apparently stayed concealed while Mr Kissel, only about twelve yards away, had removed the trap. This morning Detectives R. Thompson and J. Halcrow, of Christchurch, went out and made investigations. Mr Kissel knows of no reason why any attack should have been made on him personally, and the assumption is that somebody acquainted with the rounds of the delivery van, and knowing where to wait to find the driver with his day’s takings, had resolved on making a highwaj r robber}'. His nerve appears to have fail W*. him at the crucial moment. As it was, Mr Kissel had a lucky escape. Had it not been for the protection afforded by the bodywork of the car, the bullet would hae struck him in the stomach. “ I don’t mind telling you I felt pretty hollow this morning when I saw that bullet hole in the side of the truck,” said Mr H. B. Kissel this afternoon, when telling the story of the attack made on himself last evening. “At first I thought it was the work of hoodlums, though what would have happened if a motor-cyclist had hit that wire I don't care to think about. It might easily have taken his head off.” A Stormy Night, Mr Kissell said that he approached the locality at 6.45 last evening, when it was pitch dark and raining heavily. He had very strong headlights on his truck, and as he came along Newton's Road, towards a disused road which marked the end of Mr Plimmer’s property, he saw suddenly a white streak across the road in front of him. He realised it was wire and jammed his brakes on, skidding to a halt, just as the wire came to within an inch or two of the windscreen. He then threw the car into reverse and backed to a distance of about 20ft, where his headlights covered the wire from end to end. Still, Mr Kissel moved with caution not knowing what to expect. Thinking quickly he stepped onto the runningboard, leaving his engine still running, and having a good look round, carried on an imaginary conversation about the wire with some other person in the car. He then slowly approached the right-hand side of the wire which he found to be in two strands twisted together. It was heavy galvanised eightgauge fencing wire, and it was attached to a bluegum tree on the left-hand side and to a gatepost on the other. The wire had been pulled tight and then a tourniquet of wood inserted and twisted until the wire was taut. Still glances about him he untied the wires from the gate and slowly took it back across the road out of the way. He then walked back to his car. “ Didn't Waste Time.” “ I don’t mind your knowing that I had the ‘ wind up * pretty badly,” Mr Kissel admitted this afternoon. “As soon as I had got into the truck I didn’t waste any time. I was in top by the time I got to where the wire had been and it was then I heard a as though a boulder had struck the side of t?.e car. I thought it was just a parting shot from the hoodlums responsible for barring the road. I came back to Templeton and immediately rang Constable Worsley at Islington, I sent my car for him and we then went back and searched pretty thoroughlv about the locality with the aid of spotlights. The wire was still there as it was this morning, but there were no signs of the man responsible.” “At this time I had no idea a shot had been fired, and it was not until I took the truck out of the shed at nine o’clock this morning that I saw the bullet hole. You can bet I got the detectives down pretty quick then." Mr Kissel said that he had no idea the attack should be made on him unless it was hoped to rob h.m. He made the same journey at about the same time everv Tuesday and Friday, and it appeared as if the trad was laid especially for him. It was a! httle-used road otherwise.