Hong Kong police are on the hunt for a burglar who made off with HK$1.7 million (US$217,450) in luxury handbags, including Chanel and Hermes brands, in a one-minute raid on a store in the bustling Tsim Sha Tsui shopping district.
A video posted online shows a man snatching 12 handbags after smashing the glass door and gaining entry to the eighth-floor store in the Metropole Building on Peking Road at around 8.30pm on Sunday, when the store was closed.
A source familiar with the case on Monday said the break-in took about 60 seconds.
The insider said a shopkeeper, 28, received a call from security company staff when the alarm was triggered.
“She checked the security camera app on her mobile phone and discovered a man ransacking her shop,” he said. “She immediately called the police.”
The online footage shows the thief wearing a cap and a face mask to conceal his identity and grabbing the handbags from two display cabinets and putting them in a black travel bag.
The burglar fled before police arrived. Officers combed the area, but no arrests were made.
Burglar steals HK$1 million in luxury watches from home of Hong Kong businessman
Burglar steals HK$1 million in luxury watches from home of Hong Kong businessman
According to a police spokesman, 12 handbags worth HK$1.7 million, as well as HK$100 in cash, were snatched from the shop. The Post learned that the stolen items included Hermes and Chanel bags.
The force said the burglar was 1.7 metres (5.6 feet) tall, and wearing a blue hoodie and dark trousers.
Footage from another security camera showed a man of a similar description leaving the building at around 8.35pm with a backpack and a black travel bag.
Police are treating the incident as a burglary, with detectives from the Yau Tsim criminal investigation unit handling the case.
On Friday last week, four watches worth HK$980,000 were stolen from a 53-year-old businessman’s home at Lakeview Garde in the Tai Wai area of Sha Tin.
Hong Kong police hunt gang behind 37-second, HK$40 million watch robbery
Hong Kong police hunt gang behind 37-second, HK$40 million watch robbery
On January 14, HK$160,000 in cash and jewellery was stolen from the residence of Hong Kong actress Elvina Kong Yan-yin in the Ting Kau area of Tsuen Wan.
Hong Kong recorded a 51.9 per cent increase in the number of burglaries in the first 10 months of last year.
The number of break-ins rose to 1,100 between January and October in 2023, from 724 cases logged over the same period the year before.
