TWO DARING BURGLARIES

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 349, 29 March 1910, Page 6

TWO DARING BURGLARIES

SMART PIECE OF DETECTIVE WORK. AN ARREST IN TWO HOURS. New Plymouth holiday sensations included a couple of daring burglaries. On Easter Sunday night, at about midnight, Constable O'Neill knocked up Detective Doddam at hi* house, wn-h" the information that two burglaries had been reported to him. Mr Boddam was very quickly "on the job," and in about two hours from the time of being aroused he was able, despite the difficulties of tracking in the midnight hours, to arrest a man having in nu possession the whole of the -booty. A, piece of work of this description scarcely needs comment —it speaks for itself. The houses burglarised were the residences of Mr J. J. Stagpoole, -baker, in St. Aubyn street, and Mrs Johnson's boarding-house, only a few doors away. , The thoroughness' of the first coup and the audacity of the second mark the

crimes as probably the most daring burglaries we have had to record in New Plymouth. Mr Stagpoole was away trom his house between 9.30 and 10 p.m., and 1 the burglary took place then. The intruder, finding the coast entirely clear, seems to have gone about the work m a most systematic fashion. He ransacked the -bedroom, and found a key in the pocket of a waistcoat hanging near the bed. With this he opened a trunk ia the sw room fl-nd tpvk trm it about £lB in cash and & very valu-' able pack of playing cards, such a# are used only in the East. Evidently quit# satisfied with tne result of :his invests gations so far as this particular house was concerned, and doubtless fearing the return of the owner, he moved on down the street and entered Mrs Johnston's boarding-house. Here he visit-,' ed an occupied bedroom, and had the cool effrontery to abstract from under the man's pillow his trousers, which he had placed there for safety. It is alleged that from the pen-ket he took cash amounting to £8 15s. Hi- was seen, in the house, but it was Hot for some time afterwards that there was any suspicion of criminal intent.

Detective Boddam, accompanied l<"y Constable O'Neill, soon located the man, and within two hours a young man named James Baldwin was routed from his sleep in a boarding-house and placed for the remainder of the night in a prison cell. The easily identified paek of playing cards was found in his possession, as well as a sum of money tallying fairly well with the amount reported to have -been stolen. The accused was brought before Mr C. Ahier, J.P., in the Police Court yesterday morning and charged with the offenc*. He was remanded till April 5.