Hong Kong police arrest 17-year-old in connection with robbery of high-end watch store involving HK$3.7 million haul

Hong Kong police have arrested a 17-year-old student in connection with a robbery involving a gang storming a Tsim Sha Tsui store and making off with HK$3.7 million (US$471,868) worth of watches.

A source familiar with the case on Tuesday said the teenager was the younger brother of a man sought by police over the robbery, but he told officers he did not know the other suspect.

The 17-year-old was arrested in Sau Mau Ping in eastern Kowloon on Monday night on suspicion of misleading police, bringing the number of suspects detained to two, according to the force.

Hong Kong police arrest 1, recover haul amid hunt for 3 more over watch shop theft

His elder brother was among a trio of men wanted by police in connection with the hold-up at the VIP Station store on Canton Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, the source said.

Three men, who wore caps and surgical masks to hide their identities, raided the store at 3.40pm on Monday. They threatened staff with knives and used a sledgehammer to smash display counters. The group grabbed 20 watches worth about HK$3.7 million before fleeing in a Toyota seven-seater driven by a fourth suspect.

About 90 minutes after the heist, officers detained a 19-year-old man at the bottom of Kowloon Peak in Sai Kung before finding a backpack carrying all the stolen watches in bushes nearby. The force said all the items had been recovered.

Police said they believed the 19-year-old was one of the three robbers who stormed the shop.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the two suspects were still being held for questioning.

Detectives from the Kowloon West regional crime unit are handling the case.

Another branch of the same chain on nearby Hankow Road was targeted by a robber in August last year. He posed as a customer before he grabbed three Rolex watches with an estimated value of HK$940,000 and fled in a car driven by an accomplice.

Between January and June this year, police handled 59 robberies, an increase of 43.9 per cent from 41 cases logged in the same period in 2022.