RAID BY NIGHT

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 3, 4 July 1939, Page 10

RAID BY NIGHT

TELEPHONES WRECKED

EXTRAORDINARY STORY

YOUTHS SUSPECTED

A weekend raid in which several stolen motor-cars were used^ and which was carried out by seven youths, the oldest of whom is nineteen, is believed to be the story behind the rifling.of) fourteen slot telephone boxes in the ; Hutt Valley. Seven youths have been | interviewed by the police. Some will appear before the Children's Court and the others before the Magistrate's Court. The telephone boxes were apparently raided early on Sunday morning. This is the second time within two weeks that telephone boxes have been broken into in the > Hutt Valley, and the method is similar to that of the previous case. The telephone.is attached to a large metal box which also includes a receptacle for coins. The box is fixed to the wall by four large screws and in each case the box was wrenched off the' panel ■. with a jemmy or crowbar. If the box had been tampered with in. any other way, an alarm would have been given. GARAGE BROKEN INTO. At. £45 a_m. on. Sunday neighbours of Dr. John Mercer, who resides at the corner of Hatton Street and Homewood Avenue, Karori, were awakened by the noisy opening of the door of his garage. No investigation was made, but later in the morning it was found that the door of the garage had been broken open, apparently with a crowbar, and the car, a high-powered sedan, was missing. According to subsequent investigations, it appears that the same crowbar was used On a door of the car, which was locked. The car was then driven to Petone as far as Waiwhetu Road, and: thence over .the Haywards-Pahau-tanui Road. A total distance believed to be not far short of 400 miles was travelled before the car was found in a damaged condition yesterday. In the. course of the trip, the offenders had apparently been engaged in prising open the boxes on the back seat, for the upholstery was in a very tattered condition. . The car, had also come into collision with at least two telegraph posts, according to the story told by the crumpled wings and bodywork. When found,, it coidd not be started. It is possible that three other cars, unlawfully converted over the weekend, were used in the raid. During the drive through the Hutt Valley, fourteen telephone boxes were wrecked. In all cases these were boxes used for 3d calls to the city, and machines for local penny calls in the same areas were left untouched. As the metal boxes, which weigh j over 301b, were dealt with by the offenders in the back seat of the car, they were apparently dumped in secluded spots. -