Man, 57, arrested over armed robbery of Bank of East Asia
Police had searched the city for hours before catching the suspect, who was seen on CCTV brazenly pointing what appeared to be a pistol at employees
A 57-year-old man was arrested in Tin Shui Wai on Wednesday night for allegedly holding up the Bank of East Asia headquarters in Central before fleeing with tens of thousands of dollars.
Police had searched the city for hours before catching the suspect, who was seen on CCTV brazenly pointing what appeared to be a pistol at employees. He was believed to have taken HK$70,000 in cash.
The jobless man, whose name was not released by police, was arrested at about 7.50pm in Tin Yan Estate, Tin Shui Wai, where officers recovered the cash and weapon which was confirmed to be an air gun.
According to officers, staff at the bank – which is located at 10 Des Voeux Road in Central – reported the robbery to police at 3.32pm after a man made off with HK$70,000 from a counter.
Video footage showed the man wearing a black top during the robbery. A bank worker could be seen pulling piles of HK$20, HK$100 and HK$500 bills from a drawer and stashing the money in an orange plastic bag, while a colleague prepared more cash. The man snatched the bag and fled.