EHRMAN'S ESCAPE.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 380, 22 July 1911, Page 5

EHRMAN'S ESCAPE.

There was considerable excitement , in Te Kuiti on Wednesday when it be- ' | came known that J. Ehrman, who was ; arrested in Wellington on charges of : cargo stealing at Auckland, had 3 escaped from custody on the arrival • lof the 2 a.m. express at Te Kuiti. ; Ehrman travelled up in a non-smok- | ing carriage, the constable who had 3 | charge of him deeming it unnecessary | to handcuff h's prisoner, as he is a | stout, elderly man, between 50 and i 60 years ofjage, and had exhibited no : signs of a desire to escape from cus- , | tody. ' When the train reached Te Kuiti ' ; the constable asked Ehrman whether he would like a cup of tea. The pri soner replied that he did not want tea, , : but said he would like a smoke, and ; he was accordingly allowed to go on i the platform. The constable lost I sight of his man for a moment, and i after a brief search realised that the prisoner was missing. Just.then the : guard shouted "AH aboard," and this | led to the belief that the prisoner ! would be among thoss joining tho train. Constable Sharp and Detec- \ tive Powell both joined the north- .' bound train, and thoroughly searched every carriage without success. The ■ first stop was at Te Awamutu, and j from there the detective and constable returned to Te Kuiti on a jigger, and .' commenced the search here. | The fact that the south-bound exj press crosses the one going north at ; Te Kuiti always brings a number of ; people on to the platform, and, when i the train had left, there was good i reason to suppose that in the con- ! fusion the prisoner had made his j eciape, but nothing could be done in I the dark of the early hours of the i morning. I Later the police instituted in- ! quiries at various livery stables to asi certain whether Ehrman had left the j town in a vehicle. They were told ! that no vehicle had gone out, but at about 1 p.m. they ascertained that Ehrman had left for Kawa in a buggy about three a.m. On receipt of this information Constable Mathew, accompanied by Detective Powell, left for Kawa, and at this small township ' Ehrman was arrested about 4 p.m. on Wednesday in the act of having tea with a settler there.

The prisoner was at once brought back to Te Kuiti, and went in custody to Auckland by Wednesday night's express. Ehrman knows the King Country intimately, having travelled through it for many years. The buggy in which he travelled to Kawa was borrowed from Te Kuiti, but the proprietor of the stables was not aware that it had been lent out. The rearrest of Ehrman is considered to have been smartly effected, considering that he only escaped at 2 o'clock on Wednesday morning, and was captured again at 4 p.m. Detective Powell brought Ehrman up to Te Kuiti by the afternoon goods train, Constable Mathew riding badk from Kawa. Ehrman was brought up in custody on Thursday at the Police Court, Auckland, and remanded for a week, bail not being forthcoming.