Two more luxury homes burgled as Hong Kong police warn of manpower depleted by anti-government protest crisis
- Two homes burgled in Tai Po and a grocery store in Sham Shui Po has HK$120,000 worth of cash and liquor stolen
- Reports of burglaries have soared in the past three months with police resources devoted to anti-government protests
Police were called to an upscale residential estate at northern Hong Kong on Monday after two homes were broken into and items stolen.
The break-ins came to light just hours after two burglars made off with HK$120,000 (US$15,300) in cash and bottles of liquor from a shop in Sham Shui Po before daybreak.
Soon after 10.30am, officers responded to the report of a burglary at the Hong Lok Yuen residential estate in Tai Po after getting a call from the 55-year-old male tenant of the complex.
“Initial investigations showed the ground-floor glass door of the house was prised open and about HK$5,000 was stolen,” a police spokesman said.
During the investigation, police found another home on the estate had also been burgled. The spokesman said about HK$2,000 was stolen from this house.
Detectives from Tai Po criminal investigation unit were assigned to the cases. There had been no arrests so far.
Separately, police were called to the Pei Ho Street grocery shop in Sham Shui Po to investigate a break-in soon after 4am.
A 58-year-old shop employee told police that two non-Chinese men ran out of the store’s rear door when he arrived for work.
“HK$70,000 in cash was stolen along with 15 bottles of liquor worth HK$50,000 from the shop,” the spokesman said.
Officers combed the area, but no arrests were made. Detectives from Sham Shui Po criminal investigation unit were handling the case.
On Saturday, the deluxe mansion of Hong Kong tycoon Richard Li Tzar-kai in Shek O was the target of a burglary. No property was stolen and police arrested a 31-year-old male visitor from the mainland for attempted burglary.
Although the number of burglaries dropped by 2.7 per cent in the first six months of 2019 – from 808 in the same period last year to 786 this year – homes and flats in the city’s upscale areas continued to be targeted.
On August 15, a safe was stolen from a luxury home on Deep Water Bay Road. Four days later, police were called to a luxury house on Mount Kellett Road on The Peak, which had been ransacked. The tenants were out of town at the time of the incidents.
The Post was told that reports of burglary in some districts have soared in the past three months as police resources have been engaged with ongoing anti-government protests.
