Fight outside Wan Chai karaoke bar results in third police weapon being grabbed this year
An off-duty detective was beaten up and had his loaded revolver snatched after a fight outside a Wan Chai karaoke bar over a man smoking a marijuana cigarette early yesterday morning.
An investigation has been launched to find out if the officer who was assaulted and a colleague he called for help - who was also off-duty and armed with a .38 Smith and Wesson - had been drinking alcohol before the incident. The officers were allowed to carry their force-issue revolvers while off-duty, but any officer drinking while armed is in breach of regulations except where special permission has been granted by senior police.
The snatching incident is the third of its kind so far this year, raising fears over the security of police weapons.
The detective constable, 31, from the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau, needed hospital treatment after the fight in a lift outside the M-Power karaoke bar in Lockhart Road at 2am when he tried to stop a man smoking pot.
Detective Senior Inspector S. K. Lau, of the Wan Chai District Anti-Triad Squad, said the fight - which eventually involved the officer, his wife, two men and two women - then spilled out into the street.
'He finished work at 10pm, went for a meal and then went to the karaoke bar to meet his wife. His wife had been drinking,' said Senior Inspector Lau, who is leading the probe into the incident.
'In the lift, he tried to stop a man who was smoking cannabis and was attacked by three people, the fight then carried on into the street and the officer's gun was snatched before they ran off.
'The officer gave chase but then lost his attackers and called for assistance and the gun was retrieved nearby in a doorway.'
He confirmed the officer involved in the fight had called a friend and fellow officer, who was also off-duty and armed, for help.
Anti-triad officers on duty in the area at the time were also drafted in.
Asked if the investigation would involve checks on whether the two off-duty officers had been drinking, or if blood or urine samples had been taken from them, Senior Inspector Lau said: 'We will look into every aspect of the case and no, not so far.'
The hunt for the suspects, two men and two women, is under way.
On November 27, Constable Yeung Chi-wa's gun was snatched by two drunk men in Tong Shui Road, North Point. It has not been found.
And on March 13, Constable Leung Shing-yan was shot dead and had his revolver taken after he went to investigate a bogus noise complaint in Tsuen Wan.
Hang Seng Bank guard Zafar Iqbal Khan, 31, was shot dead on December 5 during a raid on a bank in Belvedere Garden, Tsuen Wan. The gun was believed to be a police .38 calibre revolver.
However, a police spokesman said: 'Relevant examination of the gun has been conducted. But it is not appropriate to disclose the details at this stage as it may jeopardise the investigation.'
