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Coronavirus: Hong Kong police on a roll as third suspect in toilet paper heist flushed out
- Man was picked up during raid at guest house on Sai Yee Street a day after supermarket staff were robbed at knifepoint early on Monday morning
- Hong Kong has been gripped by panic buying since the coronavirus outbreak, as spooked residents snap up essentials such as rice and tissue paper
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Another man has been arrested in Hong Kong for his role in a bizarre toilet paper heist outside a Mong Kok supermarket, as a gang aimed to clean up during a run of panic buying in the city, sparked by the deadly coronavirus.
The man, 26, was picked up during a raid at a guest house on Sai Yee Street, not far from the scene of the robbery – in which 600 toilet rolls worth HK$1,640 (US$211) were stolen.
“We believe the trio thought the rolls would have [market] value and that they could profit by reselling them,” Chief Inspector Chow Ka-man said. “They knew each other and one of them has a triad background.”
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Chow added the gangs moved the toilet rolls in a trolley after the crime and that he believed there would be more arrests.
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At about 6am on Monday, three masked men stole 50 packets of toilet roll from a delivery man outside a Wellcome supermarket in Mong Kok. Police said one of the men was armed with two knives.
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