Gone in 30 seconds: trio steals HK$1 million from car after distracting Hong Kong driver and passenger

Suspects, believed to be white, had punctured the car's tyre and tailed the victims to a garage, police said

A gang of thieves in Hong Kong took less than 30 seconds to make off with HK$1 million in cash from a car on Tuesday night after executing a well-coordinated ruse to trick two victims into leaving their vehicle.

On Wednesday afternoon, police were still searching for three men - believed to be white - in connection with the incident that happened at a garage in San Fung Avenue, Sheung Shui at about 7.30pm the day before.

The two victims - a man, 44, and woman, 45 - are employees of a money exchange shop on San Hong Street located about 500 metres away from the garage. The money was from the day's business, and the two were delivering the cash to their employer at the time of the incident.

They got into their Honda car parked nearby and discovered that a tyre had been punctured. They then drove to the garage for repairs.

The man had stepped out of his car and was talking to a garage worker when one of the three thieves approached them, carrying a map and asking for directions, police said.

At the same time, another culprit wearing shorts and a pair of black-frame glasses approached the woman who was in the vehicle's front passenger seat.

"He appeared to be helpful, signalled something was wrong with the rear left tyre, and tricked her into leaving the car to check," a police source said.

"After she stepped out of the vehicle, the third culprit opened the rear right door and stole a plastic bag carrying HK$1 million from the seat."

By the time the two victims returned to the car and realised the bag was missing, the three culprits had fled.

Officers searched the area, but no arrests were made.

"They are white men who are about 1.7 metres tall and of medium build, thought to be aged between 30 and 40," another source said.

He said all three thieves were wearing caps at the time of the incident.

"It's a calculated job. It seemed the gang knew the daily cash delivery routine and they had scouted [the area] and watched their targets before they struck," the source added.

He believed it was likely the gang had punctured the tyre and then tailed the two victims, swooping into action as soon as they parked at the garage.

On Wednesday, officers were reviewing security footage to gather evidence. So far, no one has been arrested. Detectives from the Tai Po District crime squad were handling the case.

According to official statistics, police handled 14,087 reports of theft in the first seven months of this year, down 3.5 per cent compared with the number of cases over the same period last year.

Police are appealing for witnesses or anyone with information to contact officers on +852 3661 3700 or 3661 3546.

Source: scmp