MAD MAORI ATTACKS CONSTABLE IN DARK

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 386, 21 June 1928, Page 1

MAD MAORI ATTACKS CONSTABLE IN DARK

ARMED WITH REVOLVER LONG FIGHT IN STREET • Press Association. NAPIER, Wednesday. An insane Maori, armed with a loaded revolver, attacked a policeman who was hunting for him a little after midnight, by dropping Dn to his shoulders from a verandah in Warren Street. After a fight lasting a quarter of an hour, the policeman was able to blow his whistle for help. The Maori, who later was identified as an escaped patient from the Porirua Mental Hospital, was one of the passengers in a service car which arrived in Hastings from the south shortly after midnight. On the way the car had a breakdown at Te Aute, and the native began to quarrel with some of the other passengers. In the course of the argument he produced a revolver of somewhat antique pattern, but was induced to put the weapon away. On reaching Hastings the driver of the car at once notified the police of the occurrence. Constable Craigie accompanied the driver to Warren Street, where the Maori had alighted, and for a while the two searched the thoroughfare, but without result. The car driver then left and the constable continued the search unaided. As the policeman was passing under a verandah the man for whom he was searching dropped off the roof on to his shoulders. The constable, as soon as he recovered from his surprise, grappled with his attacker. In the struggle the native, who was a powerfully built man, lost his grip on the revolver, during the fight for possession of which two shots had been discharged. The gun fell to the ground and the constable managed to place his foot on it. To overpower the Maori, who exhibited great strength and cunning, was difficult for the constable, and it was only after about 15 minutes of struggling that he was able to use one hand to extract his whistle from his pocket and blow it. The blast brought several residents from the immediate neighbourhood to his aid, and with their help, the Maori, who was still fighting, was handcuffed and taken to the police station.