Kwai Chung police arrest 17 youngsters who claim to be ‘going to a fight’

A total of 17 teens and young adults aged 15 to 22 were arrested in Kwai Chung Plaza on Tuesday afternoon after police received a report that the youngsters gathered at a Chinese tea house and claimed they were going to a fight soon. 

The report was filed around 4 pm yesterday by an off-duty cop who happened to be at the scene and found the teens suspicious. 

Police later came and found a number of youths gathered in the area. They then stopped and searched them and, upon investigation, arrested them for unlawful assembly. 

Sources said some of the arrested teenagers had background of triad societies 14K and Sun Yee On. 

It is understood that the case stemmed from a 16-year-old teen who kept bullying a male classmate who is studying in the same year. The teen yesterday received a call from a stranger who told him not to bully the classmate anymore, and the provoked teen later confronted that classmate during recess. 

The teen also sought help from a friend in hope of threatening the classmate by display of their strength. He and his friend then met at a Chinese tea house on Kwai Yi Road and called some other friends who later came. 

Yet, the classmate who usually plays snooker in the area didn’t appear. The teen and his friends then went to Kwai Chung Plaza where the off-duty cop spotted them and filed a report. 

Police swiftly intercepted the 17 youths on the second floor of the plaza and arrested them for unlawful assembly. Police later arrested another teenager in Kwai Chung Police Station as well. 

According to photos circulated on the internet, the group of youngsters is seen surrounded by officers and sitting by the escalator on the second floor. 

The case is now handled by Kwai Tsing district anti-triad unit.