Police arrest man over theft of luxury Burberry alligator coat

Two men were arrested yesterday in connection with the brazen theft of a HK$995,000 alligator skin coat from a Burberry store in Tsim Sha Tsui on Wednesday evening.

The light grey trench coat, which was taken from a mannequin inside the three-storey shop, was recovered during the arrest, police said.

A 37-year-old man of South Asian origin was stopped on Ferry Street in Yau Ma Tei at about 3pm yesterday, said chief inspector Yolanda Yu Hoi-kwan, of Yau Tsim district police.

Two hours later, another man of South Asian origin, aged 31, was arrested on Bristol Avenue in Tsim Sha Tsui, where officers found the coat in a bag that had been left in a roadside flower bed.

The second man, who was believed to have discarded the stolen coat, was later escorted by police to a store in nearby Chungking Mansions on Nathan Road, where a search was conducted. A tablet computer - also believed to have been stolen - was seized.

The two men were arrested and detained for theft and handling stolen goods, respectively. No charges have been laid. A team from Yau Tsim district police are investigating.

Security cameras showed a Chinese man in his 30s or 40s taking the jacket - which did not have a security tag fitted - off the mannequin inside the shop and walking out into the crowded Silvercord shopping mall on Canton Road at about 7.30pm on Wednesday. Staff didn't notice it was gone until several hours later, when they were doing a stocktake at closing time.

He was in and out of the shop - one of 14 Burberry has in the city - in around a minute, a police officer said on Thursday.

A visit to the store by the Post on Thursday found security was tight, with at least two staff serving each customer. Sales assistants refused to discuss the theft.