MOTOR CAR FIRED ON. ,

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1698, 14 March 1913, Page 5

MOTOR CAR FIRED ON. ,

MYSTERIOUS OUTRAGE. TOM EIGHT SHOTS POINT BLANK. YOUNG MAN ARRESTED. VICTIMS' ASTOUNDING STORY. . (By Tislegraph.— Press 'Association.) ■ Auckland,' March 13. i ;,A shooting atfray occurred near, Takapuna to-day, by, which Percy Robeyt Skeates . (motor garage proprietor) 'and Robert James'Hanna (driver.for the ■ firm)'received wounds. .Skeates was shot five : times, bullets lodging in the right armpit (slightly . injuring the lung.),; the back of the right hand," the left upper arm, and the right upper eyelid, while one grazed the chest. Hanna was hit by three bullets, the .one lodging in the right shoulder-blade being ■ the, most serious, the others merely grazing him. , 1 Both men will rocovcr. : \' i According to.'a statement'by one of the . injured men, a'«man, who wished [to purchase a car was taken for a . drive. The would-be purchaser left the'car for a minute, ■. and suddenly opened ' fire on ; Hanna and .Skeates with 'a revolver.

. , Skeates fell over at the first shot,l while Hanna jumped out. I '

. His assailant ' fired more shots at Skeates, who lay in the road. ,

Hanna, believing Skeates Ito be dead, J . 'sought safety in flight.' ' \. ~ , ] His assailant .then took possession of tho car, and drove back to Takapuna, in- , • forming the. police that there had been c ' some shooting by persons-in the motor- t car. ' ' Hanna also returned to "the police sta- ' : 'tion; aiid a party 'went out and brought Skeates-back. to the Hospital., , . Robert Jasper Crago, alleged to bo the. assailant, has been'-arrested, He is about , 19.years of age. . ] THE CHAUFFEUR'S STORY. SHOTS IN RAPID SUCCESSION. J HIT IN THE SHOULDER A'ND SIDE. ' A graphic narrative, of the affair was obtained last night by a "Herald" rejireeentntive who interviewed the'-injured man at tho Hospital. The chauffeur, Hanna, was seen in the casualty ward of the institution immediately after he had received the necessary surgical at- ; ' tendance ■ from Dr. Maguire. . The patient '' •'..was.able to relate very clearly- what had . happened, though he complained of a 6evere headache, and was naturally suffering Some pain from his wounds;;/ ' '"I first saw Crago'-'at' th«rgiirSge," said , Hanna,,-'-'at about 9.30-a.m. He wasjalk-. } dng to , our foreman , (Mr. J.' Jenkins), ' /who subsequently- brought, : him over to me; and told me to show him : a new ' car'' and give him all the information he wanted abaut it. This. I did. I understood , that Crago intended to buy the car. He said he liked it very much, andwanted it taken to his place at Takapuna' as quickly as possible. He agreed to pay for the car , the price named for it (i' 425) oil delivery. "Mr. Skeates, Crago, and I left the garage in the car at about 1 p.m., and caught . ' tho ferry boat Goshawk to Devonport. ' We then proceeded to drive to. Brown's Bay, where Crago said he .lived. ■ "When we arrived near Brown's Bay," proceeded.Hanna, "Crago pointed out thehouse, saying that it'was his residence. ' 'To reach it we turned off the main road into' a , private thoroughfare. 'We had driven ' some 200 iyards down ; this side - road when Crago told me jto stop. I palled up, and he alighted,'saying that he wainted to get the mail out of-a box inthe 'scrub. "Mr. Skeates, who was sitting behind in the tonneau, .leaned forward over my seat, and we were remarking upon the magnificent view, when we were startled by .hearing several revolver Bhots in rapid succession. "The .next thing, I knew was that I was hit in the right shoulder by a bullet,"'the chauffeur, went on. ."Turning round, I saw that Crago,: who had come out of the sorub, and was standing within a yard of the car on the right, or driv- ; ; ing side, was. just®firing another shot at Mr. Skeats. The bullet took effect in .Mr. SkeatV'head, and I saw him fall down in' the car; and I hopped up, witli the intention of getting out, whereupon Crago gave me two more to go on with, one. grazing'my neck and the other taking me in the right side. "I thought, Mr. Skeats was dead, so I got out, and' after dodging the.man'with the revolver, kept behind the car, whilst I watched his movements beneath it.. Finally, I saw him walk away from the ear fi I looked round the back of it to see where he was going, and he was loading up.the.revolver again. >. ' "Believing Mr. Skeats to be. dead, I thought I could do; no good by staying to bo potted at. so I made for the scrub at the side of the road, and once undercover I ran for all I was worth in. the direction of a hfcuse. On the way I stumblediand . fell several times.. "I reached the houso nearly' exhausted only to. find .it was unoccupied. I then pushed on to'the ; beach in. the hope of finding someone there, but -no one was about. "Presently, however, I saw two men ■up on the hill and being too puffed to oall out, I beckoned to them. One of the men came down when he saw that I was in earnest and ho accompanied me .towards Takapuna in search' of a doctor tmd the police." ,

I A TERRIBLE ORDEAL, STRUCK BY FIVE BULLETS. ' FELL OUT OF THE TONNEAU, The story told by Mr. Skeates was of an even more sensational nature. He underwent such a terrible ordeal that the wonder is ho lived to tell' the tale. When - seen in the hospital ward the patient was in a remarkably cheerful condition considering his experience and the fact that he had been struck by five bullets. ■ "The first I recollect of the affair after seeing Cm go go into the titrec,". said Mr. Skeates, "was hearing tho report of a revolver shot, tho bullet striking me on the head. I fell back into the car. "Opening one eye to see what was going on I saw Crago levelling the revolver at me, his hand resting on the side of tho oar, and I felt another shot in the head. This dazed me and I fell ngainst tho door. I then saw Hanna, leave the car. 1 "Immediately afterwards Crago came to the door and opened it, and I fell out of tho. tonneau on' to the roadway. Whilst Ijwas Iyinjr there ray assailant fired

again at me three or four times. He put the revolver to my side and pulled tho trigger. "Having shot at me in this fashion," continued Mr. Steates, "Crago jumped' into the car, and I saw and heard him frying to start the motor to get away. It took him about ten minutes to do so, but eventually I saw him disappear in the distance. "I struggled to my feet, and though I was considerably dazed and was weak from loss of blood, I managed to walk up tho road in search of help. I camo across a lady sitting at' the side of tho road, whim I had seen •as we passed down, and she mo to a whore and bathed my wounds." ' / ■ : — : — ALLEGED ASSAILANT'S STATEMENT. HEARD SHOTS. AND HASTENED TO INFORM THE POLICE. It is understood that, the arrested man Crago made no statement beyond what he;told the police at'Takapuna. He informed the latter that there had been some shooting by some persons in a motor-car on the road to Silverdale, about two miles and'a'half from 1 Takapuna. Ho then went on :to explain that he was taking Skeates and Hanna out to see the country in a car he intended to purchase. When about two miles and a half from Takapuni he left the car for ■the money, and while he was away heard shots. ,Returning to the road he saw Skeates lying 1 on the. road, while 'the other man, Hanni, was running off in the, direction of. Brora's Bay. Crago said he got into the car and made haste to inform the police.'.