Source:
https://scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/2022596/three-break-ins-two-hours-burglary-spate-hong-kong-luxury Law and Crime
Three break-ins in just two hours as spate of Hong Kong luxury home burglaries continues
The cases were reported to police Sunday night on two homes in Sai Kung and one in Yuen Long
Bella Vista on Silver Terrace Road, Sai Kung. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Three burglary reports in a span of two hours were made to police on Sunday night with a total of more than HK$1.1 million in cash and valuables stolen, as a spate of high-profile break-ins on luxury homes across the city continues.
The first case on Sunday night came to light after a 62-year-old man, surnamed Lee, returned to his Bella Vista house on Silver Terrace Road, Sai Kung, and found his bedroom ransacked. He called the police at 9.38pm.
“An initial estimate shows HK$830,000 in jewellery and watches was stolen along with HK$20,000 in cash,” a police spokesman said. Officers combed the area, but no arrests were made.
About an hour later, police were alerted again as a woman, 48, found her Sai Kung apartment in Razor Hill Road – about 4km away from Bella Vista – ransacked.
According to police, one of the flat’s windows had been pried open and three watches worth about HK$150,000 in total were taken.
The third break-in was reported to police at about 11.30pm when a woman, 55, found her house off Castle Peak Road in the Yuen Long district ransacked. Police said HK$130,000 in jewellery was stolen along with A$800.
Initial investigation showed a door on the house’s roof had been pried open, according to police.
Hong Kong’s expensive residential areas, including The Peak, Shouson Hill, Deep Water Bay, Repulse Bay and Kowloon Tong have been targeted by thieves in the past weeks.
On September 5, the Deep Water Bay residence of billionaire American businessman and recipient of the Gold Bauhinia Star medal Jim Thompson was burgled. Twenty-eight items including his Gold Bauhinia Star medal were stolen. A mainland man, 26, was arrested, and the stolen properties were recovered.
On August 8, the Repulse Bay Road home of Hong Kong’s third-richest man, Cheng Yu-tung, was burgled. Several gold statues were stolen.
Despite the recent spate of break-ins, police figures show reports of burglary declined 4.6 per cent to 1,407 over the first seven months of the year, compared to 1,475 in the same period in 2015.