GARAGE BROKEN INTO

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 84, 26 April 1937, Page 6

GARAGE BROKEN INTO

Lorry Loaded with Tyres and Tubes WAIPUKURAU BURGLARY The garage of J. L. Brathwaite Ltd., in Ruataniwha street, Waipukurau, was broken into in the early hours of yesterday morning, but nothing of value appears to have been taken, although a lorry was loaded with tyres and tubes and a type-writer, ready to carry away it is thought that the intruder must have been disturbed by the nightwatchman, Mr E, G. Price, and decamped. Mr Price was on his round at about 2 a,m. yesterday, when he noticed someone moving about in Brathwaite's premises with an electric torch. He promptly telephoned Constable D. Sutton, Mr J . L. Brathwaite and Mr M. Wilkens, sales manager, all of whom quickiy arrived at the garage. Dividing forces they entered the building from the front and rear simultaneously. The intruder had disappeared, however, and it is thought that he must have seen and recognised the nightwatchman in the street and made his escape. Entry was effected through the back door, and it appears that the intruder was a person who knew the premises well, as he knew how to open the door without forcing it. A new lorry, owned by Messrs Yates and Co., and stored on the premises, was found loaded with 11 new tyres, 14 new tubes and the office typewriter. The offices had been ransacked and the safe door was open. The key was usually left in the door of the safe, in which nothing more valuable than records were kept. A locked drawer containing records was forced open with a tyre lever, but thirty shillings in cash was overlooked. A small cash box in the safe was lying open, but whether there had been a small amount of cash in it on Saturday night or not is not known.