CAPTURE ELUDED.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20098, 29 November 1930, Page 6

CAPTURE ELUDED.

— BURGLARS SURPRISED BY CONSTABLE. iritESS ASSOCIATION TELEGiIAH.i BLENHEIM, November 38. Two daring thieves were Operating in Blenheim in the early hours of yesterday morning when, after making an unsuccessful attempt to enter a Bhop in Alfred street, they were Surprised in tho act of getting together a "swag" in premises in Market street north occupied by Clifford McKay, mercer. Tliey stole £2 in money, but decamped when disturbed, abandoning bundles of goods which they had apparently intended to remove. Mr McKay, summoned by the police, 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 thb marks of an inchwide 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, selecting the best quality articles for removal. Constable Morrison, who was 011 night duty, saw a light burfiing in the window of McKay's premises and proceeded to investigate. The thieves, in order to work in comfort, had switched on tlio light inside the Shop, but, unknown to them, tho switch also operated tlij„ lights in the window which had attracted the constable's attention. When the policeman approached, a man who had an armful of clothing dropped it and, eluding tho constable, bolted frbm the premises. Behind the counter was another man in the act of pocketing money just removed from the till. He wore an overcoat, the collar of which was turned well up, and had j his liat pulled down over his eyes. The j astonished burglar turned and fled into j the back room when he saw the constable, and the latter immediately gave chase, expecting to trap the thief. However, tho burglars had prepared for a huri-ied departure by opening the back door as well as the front, and the constable's quarry got away through tho backyards of the adjoining premises. It was discovered later in the morning that an attempt also had been shade to force the door of F. Thomaa's tobacconist shop in Alfred Btreet, but the lock had resisted the attack. It is believed that the Same men were concerned, because the marks on the door tally with the size of the jemmy used to effect an entry into McKay's promises.