Wasted time for trio in luxury watch robbery

Police have recovered all 20 watches and arrested a 19-year-old believed to be one of the three robbers who almost got away with watches worth HK$3.7 million from a shop on Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, armed with knives and a hammer yesterday.

Superintendent Alan Chung Nga-lun of the Kowloon West regional crime unit said the three robbed the shop, VIP Station, at 3.48 pm in a snatch and gran that lasted around 30 seconds.

"They took away 20 watches, which are worth HK$3.7 million, and left a knife and a hammer at the scene, before fleeing in a vehicle outfitted with a fake license plate," Chung said.

After in-depth investigation, officers believed the three drove to Kowloon Peak of the Ma On Shan Country Park directly after the robbery, he added.

"After 1 hours, we were able to arrest a 19-year-old Pakistani, who has a Hong Kong identity card, for robbery and further found a backpack in the woods and found all 20 watches," Chung said.

The other two robbers are also believed to be Pakistani with Hong Kong identity cards and officers are confident of a quick arrest.

A female employee sustained minor injuries on her hand and was taken to hospital.

An employee of a nearby drug store nearby who heard the alarm at VIP Station go off said "a promoter who works in VIP Station barged into my shop with her handbag and said there was a robbery, and asked us to help call the police."

"I then looked out of my shop, and saw the masked robbers leaving VIP Station and boarding a seven-seater car and fleeing the scene," she added.

Another VIP Station branch at Hankow Road was also robbed last August 18. A man entered the outlet at 8 pm that day and said he wanted to buy a watch.

When three watches were brought out, he snatched them and fled the scene in a car.

It is understood that two of the watches were Rolex Daytonas, with the three worth around HK$940,000 in total.

This marks the third watch shop burglary in Tsim Sha Tsui in six months after five robbers got away with watches worth HK$3.8 million on July 6 from a shop on Mody Road.

Before that, a shop on Nathan Road was robbed of around HK$10 million in watches and cash on March 26 by a gang of four.