CAPTURE ELUDED

Hokitika Guardian, 1 December 1930, Page 2

CAPTURE ELUDED

BURGLAR'S" SURPRISED; BY. CONSTABLE..

BLENHEIM, November 28

• Two daring thieves werv operating f.ifi: Blenheim' in.the ieai;ly. v ,hours of yes•.terday morning when., after making an :.unsuccessfuU,.at;tenipt-.; to- enter, a shop An Alfred' Street,’ tliey were .‘ surprised ,in ■ the ..act of • getting together the -"“swag” - iii premises in Market Street ~no,rth, occupied ,by Mr Clifford .M’Kay, mercer and men’s outfitter. They stole the-sum of £2 i.A monby-, but decamped wjien disturbed, abandoned bundles .of goods which": they bad apparently intended to remove.

Mr. M-’K-ay-, who was summoned by •the polibe early' ill the morning, arrived at tlie shop to learn that the front .door . had .been burst, open and . the pk-ice ransacked. The djoor, which bad been forced bore marks of ' an inch-wide jemmy just below the lock. The contents of the shop had been tiirned topsy-turvy,. the floor and counter being littered .with stjock which the marauders had sorted over while selecting.the best quality articles for removal, Constable Morrison, who was on night duty, saw a light burning in tlie .shop window" of M’Kay’s premises, and .proceeded to- investigate. With consummate coolness, the thieves, in order to work in comfort, had switched on the light inside the shop, blit, .unknown . to; Them, the switch a.lsb operated lights in the window which :hnd attracted, the constable’s attention, When the policeman approached, a man who had an armful of clothing dropped the “swag” and; eluding tho constable, bolted from the premises. Behind the counter was a nother man in the - act of pocketing money which had just been removed front the till;- He' wore an overcoat, the collar of which was turned well up, and he had a hat pulled down over his eyes.’ The astonished burglar turned and fled into a hack room when he saw the constable, and the latter ’ immediately gave chase expecting to- trap the thief. However, the burglars had prepared for a hurried departure by opening the hack door ais well as the front, and the constable’s quarry showed a clean pair of lieels in making their getaway through the backyards of adjoining premises. It was discovered later in the morning that an attempt had also been made to force the door of Mr F. Thomas’s, tobacconist shop, in Alfred Street, but the lock had resisted the attack. It is believed that the same men were concerned,; hecauste the marks on the door tally with the size of the jemmy used to effect entry into Mr M’Kay’s premises,