Manhunt after masked robbers hit watch shop in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
- Three men smash shop window and steal HK$600,000 haul of watches
- Robberies have become more common in recent months, with police resources stretched by ongoing civil unrest
A manhunt was under way on Sunday night for three masked robbers who looted a watch shop in Causeway Bay, threatening staff with what turned out to be a replica gun.
Police were called shortly after 7pm to 28 Watches, a ground-floor shop in the Causeway Bay Plaza 1 mall, at the junction of Hennessy Road and Percival Street.
The black-clad robbers, who wore masks, spoke Cantonese and were thought to be in their 20s, had been seen fleeing eastwards towards Victoria Park. By midnight, the search was still going on and no arrests had been made.
The force said the men made off with 12 watches, with a total value of about HK$600,000 (US$77,000).
“The watch shop staff said the three robbers were men. They rushed in and smashed the shop window and grasped some watches and escaped,” a police spokesman said. “There were reports that a robber was seen holding a pistol-like object.”
Officers who had cordoned off the area found a knife, two hammers, the fake gun and three of the watches in a back alley nearby.