[CPProt.net] Antique dealer gives thieves the goods

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

Antique dealer gives thieves the goods 
20 October 2005  

When a nearby shop was raided early today Auckland antique dealer Bruce Gray
seized the heaviest object at hand - a Victorian cast-iron plant stand from
his collection. 


As a car tried to leave Antiquities in the suburb of Remuera with two
antique motorbikes on a trailer, Mr Gray heaved the $200 planter at it,
smashing the windscreen. 

The occupants of the car fled in such haste they forgot to secure their
trailer tailgate and lost the bikes. 

The 60-year-old, who lives above his shop Abbey Antiques, had been woken at
3am by the sound of breaking glass and gone to investigate. 

Climbing out a first floor window on to a verandah he saw the vehicle and
trailer parked along the road. 

"I thought they were going to steal some furniture out of an antique shop
further down the road so I thought I would get something very heavy, walk
along the verandah and smash the front window so they couldn't drive away
easily. 

"It's just a logical thing to do. I had no other way of immobilising the
vehicle." 

Mr Gray said his partner rang the police while he went downstairs for a
suitable missile. 

"I picked up a cast-iron, three-legged Victorian potplant stand, reasonably
heavy," he said. 

Mr Gray said the car moved along to the shop next door and parked with the
trailer against the doors. 

The alarm was going off but Mr Gray could not see the motorbikes - a BSA and
a Matchless valued at $5000-$6000 each - on the trailer. 

"I didn't know what they were going to do but I knew they were up to no
good. So I took careful aim and threw (the plant stand) and fortunately got
a direct hit in the middle of the windscreen and shattered it. 

"But just before the planter hits it (a man) comes around the end of the
trailer and is just about to get into the driver's seat. The planter smashes
to pieces, bounces off the bonnet, but did the trick alright." 

Police intercepted the men shortly afterwards and they were charged with
burglary. 

Antiquities owner Rick McCay said he was grateful to Mr Gray. 

"It's not often that someone does something constructive. He made a
difference." 

Unfortunately, the motorbikes had been "virtually destroyed" and were
unlikely to be repaired for sale.