THREE BURGLARIES IN TOWN LAST NIGHT: STOLEN CAR GETAWAY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 80, 11 August 1948, Page 4

THREE BURGLARIES IN TOWN LAST NIGHT: STOLEN CAR GETAWAY

Burglars entered three business premises at Whakatane last night, attempted to enter a fourth, and are believed to have decamped in a tar stolen from Ilamill Bros’ garage. Asked about it this morning, the Police said that Sergeant Farrell’s instructions were that nothing was to be released for publication meantime. However, here’s what the Beacon found out for itself in a 10-minute investigation before going to press: At the back of Morpeth and Son’s Store a window was broken, and a pair of the protective iron bars forced apart A little bipod on the floor suggested the intruder cut himself on the jagged glass. Drawers in the office had been searched, obviously in haste. Some silver (the amount as yet unchecked) is missing, but little else appears to have been taken.' ' ; .. ' ’ ' ' Bridgers* drapery, store. was tackled in a similar manner, but apparently the. thief failed to force the

bars. There was no evidence the place had been actually entered. Donaldson’s Hardware was entered, by the same method as Morpeth’s. None of the small change; that was in the till was taken, and a quick check-up by Mr Donaldson revealed, the theft, of nothing more valuable than a couple of. tins of sardines. Hamill’s apparently provided the marauders with a getaway in the form of a 1936 Oldsmobile car, grey, lined with red. The / registration number was not available before the press deadline this morning. A small glass panel in one of the doors of the garage was smashed to allow the place to be entered. The car was taken from the workshop upstairs, and apparently backed down the ramp some time before 1.30 a.m. when its loss was discovered. That suggests an , experienced driver.