Man arrested for theft of trash bin after travelling with it on Hong Kong MTR
Police investigation found he stole the rubbish container from his public housing estate and put another bin there in its place
A 69-year-old man who created a stir online by travelling on Hong Kong’s MTR with a large rubbish bin was arrested by police on Friday on suspicion of stealing it from a public housing estate.
Initial investigations showed the cleaner stole the wheeled rubbish bin from Lung Fung House at Lower Wong Tai Sin Estate in Wong Tai Sin before daybreak on Thursday, police said. He lives in the same building.
A police source said it was replaced with another bin the man used at his workplace in Mong Kok. “The two rubbish bins are of the same colour and similar in size but the bin placed there by the man did not have wheels,” the source said.
How did this man manage to get a large rubbish bin on crowded MTR?
The theft came to light when a female cleaner discovered that the wheeled bin was missing from the public housing block in Wong Tai Sin and called police at about 10am on Friday.
After viewing CCTV footage, police identified the suspect and arrested him for theft at his home around noon.
By evening, the man was still being held for questioning. Officers from Wong Tai Sin police district are handling the case.
In a photo widely circulated online, he was seen standing inside a fairly crowded train carriage with the bin next to him.
