Hong Kong police arrest 5 alleged robbers after group storms into jewellery store just metres from scene of Monday abduction of woman
- Officers staked out VIP Station shop on Haiphong Road after learning it had been targeted, source says
- Force says two display cases damaged, but nothing stolen
Hong Kong police drew their weapons to arrest five alleged smash-and-grab thieves at a watch and jewellery store in the city’s bustling Tsim Sha Tsui shopping district on Tuesday.
“Intelligence revealed a robbery gang targeted the store and criminal intelligence officers specialising in daring arrests and raids laid an ambush outside the shop,” the insider said.
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Alleged robbers storm Hong Kong watch and jewellery store
A 48-second video posted online shows five masked men carrying three sledgehammers and two knives leaving a white car parked outside before entering the store.
In the clip, two of the robbers threaten staff with knives and the other three hit a glass cabinet and a display counter with sledgehammers.
Footage shows at least seven plain-clothes officers carrying guns then move in before the robbers drop their weapons and squat or sit on the floor. Officers then subdue them.
Police said the gang arrived in a white Mazda, which pulled over outside the store at around 11.55am. The incident happened just metres from where a woman was abducted on Monday.
“Five masked assailants carrying three hammers and two knives left their car and rushed into the shop,” Superintendent Gar Kam-lam of the Kowloon West regional crime unit said.
Gar said officers rushed into the shop and subdued five men, who were hitting two display cases with the hammers.
“As the five men were carrying knives and hammers at the time, officers drew their guns, gave verbal warnings and arrested the suspects,” he said.
Gar said one of the suspects suffered a minor injury to his face as he struggled with police.
Two display cases were damaged, but nothing was stolen.
The five men, aged between 22 and 35, were said to be non-Chinese.
Gar said they included a Hong Kong identity card holder and two holders of recognisance forms, a temporary identification document issued by the Immigration Department that permits bearers to remain in the city but restricted them from working.
He said no identification documents were found on the other two men, who were suspected to be illegal immigrants.
The five were detained for questioning on Tuesday afternoon.
Gar said police were investigating if the gang had any accomplices and the possibility that they had been involved in other robberies or crimes.
Officers have cordoned off the area as detectives examine the scene.
A gang of robbers escaped with HK$23.5 million (US$3 million) worth of valuables from the same store in less than 90 seconds in 2018.
Three robbers raided VIP Station’s branch on Canton Road last September. The smashed glass display cases and stole watches worth HK$3.7 million.
They escaped in a getaway car driven by a fourth suspect.
Police arrested at least five people, including a 10-year-old boy, in connection with the robbery and recovered all the stolen watches.
The Canton Road shop was one of four watch stores targeted by robbers in Tsim Sha Tsui last year.
Official figures show the number of robberies rose by 26 per cent to 97 in 2023, up from 77 the year before.
