DYNAMITERS AT WORK

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 377, 11 June 1928, Page 1

DYNAMITERS AT WORK

SAFE BLOWN OPEN AT MOUNT ALBERT

THIEVES SAW THROUGH PADLOCKS

THIEVES did a round of business premises in Mt. Albert last nigbt. Two shops and the railway station were tampered with, but very little was gained by the intruders. Dynamite was used in the store of Mr. Peter Floyd, at the Mt. Albert tram terminus.

An attempt had been made to break into Hellaby’s butcher’s shop about 100yds away. The back door was broken open, but nothing was touched in the shop. It is also thought that an attempt was made to break into the Mount Albert Railway Station between 10 o’clock last night and four o’clock this morning. When the stationmaster arrived this morning he found that a window had been broken by a stone and that an attempt had been made to lever up the window. However the lock held and frustrated the attempt to enter the building.

The attack made on the safe of Mr. Floyd shows the hand of an expert. The lock had been wrenched completely off in such a manner that none of the contents was damaged. A few stains showed on the wall. Mr. Floyd had no money in the safe and the books were untouched. A few shillings in a drawer, however, had been taken. Entry was gained through the front door, where the thieves had sawed through two stout padlocks. The explosion was heard by a neighbour at 1.5 this morning. She immediately awakened her husband, but, thinking that the sound had been caused by a bursting tyre, he did not investigate. A chemist, who was sleeping directly above the safe, did

not hear the report. This is the second time in a little over a year that the shop has been entered. The thieves then turned their attention to Hellaby’s butcher’s shop. A large stone was used to break a plateglass window at the back after an attempt to lever the door open had failed. Frightened apparently by the noise of the falling glass on the concrete floor, the burglars made off without raising the catch of the lock. Footprints of one man were found in the soft mud at the rear of the shop.