LAMBTON QUAY BURGLARY

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8341, 30 January 1913, Page 7

LAMBTON QUAY BURGLARY

JEWELLERY RECOVERED,

CONSTABLE TO BE CHARGED

WITH THEFT

The mystery surrounding the disappearance of a quantity o f j ewe. lory irom the shop of ! t t. G. Ross, Lambton quaVj was salt et yesterday morning, and a police coustaolo, diaries Alfred lioaiuiors, already under arrest in connection with another matter, is to bo charged with the more serious alienee m theft of the jowfiery. In the early hours of the morning of January b’dnd, it is stated, accused was doing 'duty on the ‘'beat” near Air Loss’s premises. Later in the day he called at a friend’s house and there left an overcoat. Meanwhile it was reported to the police that a hat and some ties and handerchiofs had been stolen iram Messrs Wallace and Gibson’s mercery shop in Willis street. Investigations wore made. the.result of which was that the constable was arrested last Friday night and charged at the Magistrate’s Court the following day with talcing the hat. On that charge he was remanded for a week. Seeing that the two burglaries occurred during carlv hours, suspicions wore aroused, and yesterday morning the overcoat was examined. In the pockets a considerable, quantity of jewellery was found. The articles were afterwards identified by. Air Ross. About £l4O worth of goods was stolon from the shop, and everything has been recovered. TTic charge of committing the theft will, in addition to that or stealing tho, mercery, bo preferred against tho constable when he appears on remand at the court to-morrow on the information charging him with taking the hat. The accused is a young man, of handsome appearance, and has been in tho force only a few months. Formerly ho belonged to the London Metropolitan police, which ho left with an excellent discharge. Tho incidents loading to R-emmer’s arrest are said to ho somewhat peculiar. Hats of a distinctive make Had been missed from the shop of Messrs Wallace and Gibson. So far as these morccrs knew, no other shop displayed exactly tho same specimens. Tho disappearance of the hats remained a mystery for some time, till one day a man who was wearing one of these peculiar types of headgear walked into the shop to make a purchase. The mercer, noting _ the hat, made no observation at the time, but is said to have followed the wearer to tho police station, informed the detectives of tho remarkable occurrence, and this led to suspicion and a search, with tho result stated above. The small bos winch was discovered near the Queen’s wharf, and which was reported to have contained a quantity of jewellery, is stated to have been abstracted from a novelty shop in Manners street, and was not identified by Air Ross as having belonged to his stock. This box contained “jewellery” of an inferior character.