Smash-and-grab suspects arrested in HK

Hong Kong police by Monday night had arrested all three suspects they said smashed jewelry shop windows and grabbed goods worth more than HK$40 million ($5.1 million) in one of the city's busiest commercial districts.

One man, 39, was arrested earlier in the day 600 meters from the scene, and most of the stolen goods were found, said Sin Kwok-ming, chief inspector of the Police Regional Crime Unit of Hong Kong Island.

The other two, aged 38 and 45, were arrested at Shenzhen Bay Port on Monday night as they were attempting to flee to the Chinese mainland on separate cross-border buses, a police spokeswoman said.

The three had entered Hong Kong on tourist visas, she said.

The robbery took place at around 11 am at the Treasure Jewellery store on the ground floor of Duke Wellington House in Central district.

The glass of the shop's front door was shattered and police found a black backpack.

Other items found in a nearby alley were believed to have been used in the theft, as were more items found in the Lan Kwai Fong area, one of Hong Kong's most popular night life hot spots. Items included a mask, gloves, a black coat and two hammers.

The robbery took less than a minute, the police said.

Connections this case may have to other local smash-and-grab cases will be investigated, according to the police. It was the seventh such case since January 2017.

Last month, three masked Southeast Asian men pocketed around 60 expensive watches worth more than HK$1 million in Yuen Long.

In another late-night incident, in December, a window of a shop in Central district was smashed, and around 14 secondhand designer bags worth HK$1.44 million were taken.

In September, three thieves fled on a stolen motorbike with diamond ornaments worth HK$24 million, after using a hammer to smash the window of a Chow Sang Sang jewelry chain shop in Tsim Sha Tsui.

According to an annual crime report, the police handled 163 robbery cases in the city last year, 37.3 percent fewer than in 2016.

askacheong@chinadailyhk.com