Fifteen Hermes and YSL handbags worth HK$1.44 million stolen from shop in Hong Kong’s busy financial district
Police searching for three suspects after store display window was found smashed
Fifteen designer handbags – 14 Hermes and one YSL – worth a total of about HK$1.44 million (US$184,000) were stolen from a shop in Hong Kong’s busy financial district on Monday morning after its display window was smashed, according to a police source.
The store in the Man Yee Building shopping centre in Central was fenced off as investigators gathered evidence at the scene.
“The display window was broken, and the shop had been ransacked. A one-metre sledgehammer was found inside the store,” a police spokeswoman said.
“Three masked men used a hammer to break the display window of the store at about 6.30am before entering,” the source said, adding that the raid took less than a minute. Two of the burglars were also wearing hats.
Another police source said the three perpetrators arrived in a white seven-seater driven by a fourth man. The masked trio jumped out and ran into the shopping centre after the car pulled over on Pottinger Street near the junction with Queen’s Road Central.
“We believe they had scouted the area before the raid,” he said, noting that the culprits had moved very quickly.
So far, no one has been arrested.
The raid came to light when a security guard discovered the damaged window at the first-floor store in Queen’s Road Central and called police at 7.49am. Detectives from Central police district are handling the case.
The shop, which opened on October 24, is a pop-up store for online luxury bazaar Guiltless. According to its website, the store is expected to be open until December 26.
Guiltless was founded by Yen Kuok, the youngest child of Malaysian billionaire Robert Kuok. Like many of the items the company carries, the stolen handbags were second-hand items.
Thieves make off with HK$24 million in jewellery in daring Hong Kong smash-and-grab raid
Separately, a luxury apartment on Tai Tam Road, Stanley was burgled on Sunday night, and a HK$40,000 watch and HK$10,000 in foreign currency were stolen from a safe.
The incidents happened just two weeks before the start of the annual police campaign against crimes such as burglary during the coming festive season.
Between December 17 and February 25, officers will step up patrols and set up observation posts in high-risk locations in addition to conducting an anti-crime publicity campaign.
