Revolver Brandished In Hotel Cargen

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 661, 13 May 1929, Page 1

Revolver Brandished In Hotel Cargen

MAN’S STRANGE ACTION BRILLIANT WAR SERVICE Brandishing a service revolver and dressed in the kit of a commissioned military officer with decorations, a well-known ex-soldier of Auckland caused an anxious quarter of an hour at the Hotel Cargen early yesterday morning. TTNDER delusions that he was back at the front the officer, who suffers badly from shell-shock, mounted guard over a room and presented his Webly at a police sergeant and two constables. It appears that the man called at the hotel at 6.50 a.m. yesterday and asked for a room he had occupied on previous occasions. The night porter explained that the apartment was already occupied. This disturbed the visitor, who went upstairs with drawn revolver and stood outside the door. The porter called the manager, Mr. G. Lund, who, realising the man was in a dangerous mood, communicated with the police. Within a few minutes Sergeant Clist and two constables arrived. Acquainting them of the visitor’s mental condition, Mr. Lund advised the police not to approach the armed man in their uniforms. Accordingly, he supplied the sergeant with a dressing gown, while the constables removed shakos and tunics. After a tactful advance the police seized the man and disarmed him. The intruder is powerfully built and a fine stamp of man. He is single, and of independent means. About an hour earlier he called at the Grand Hotel for some belongings. APPEARANCE BEFORE COURT Still clad in uniform, with the D.C.M. ribbon on his breast, the central figure in the hold-up appeared at the Police Court this morning, before Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M. He was described as a soldier, or agent, aged 33. The charges against him were that he presented a revolver at Sergeant Clist, of the city police, and that he unlawfully carried a pistol beyond the limits of his dwelling. Sub-Inspector McCarthy mentioned that the man was to be medically examined, and he was remanded for a week. An order was made that the firearm be confiscated. Two stalwart constables and a sergeant escorted accused back to the cells.