A 68-year-old 'spiderman' burglar was arrested early yesterday after police spotted him using scaffolding to clamber between offices in Central 10 storeys above the ground.
Police said they cornered the man after he allegedly used a screwdriver to force his way into four offices, pocketing $10,000. He tried to make his escape by climbing back down the scaffolding surrounding the 20-storey building in Central and leaping to an adjoining six-storey building.
But he was unaware that he was being watched in a police surveillance operation and was eventually caught.
The elderly man began his escapade on the roof of a small residential block in Wellington Street, which directly adjoins Tak Wo House, with no gap or fence separating the two.
'The burglar walked across the roof and got straight on to the scaffolding of Tak Wo House, where he started climbing up,' Assistant Central divisional commander (Crime) Chief Inspector John Ward said.
'The man climbed up to the ninth and 10th floors, used a screwdriver to force open windows and climbed into four units. The man stole local and foreign currency worth a total of $10,000 from the four offices.'
The man was seen climbing down the scaffolding around Tak Wo House at 2am, about two hours after officers from the taskforce of Central police station set up an observation post on the roof of a nearby building in an anti-burglary operation.