Third suspect in Discovery Bay burglary arrested as he tried to flee Hong Kong

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Third suspect in Discovery Bay burglary arrested as he tried to flee Hong Kong

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 16 July, 2015, 4:29pm
UPDATED : Friday, 17 July, 2015, 2:49am

Clifford Lo
[email protected]

The third burglary suspect was intercepted at this border checkpoint at Lok Ma Chau. Photo: Dustin Shum

A mainland visitor accused of involvement in a burglary last week in which more than HK$8 million in cash and jewellery was stolen from a Discovery Bay house was arrested at an immigration control point when he tried to flee back to the mainland, police said.

The man, 22, who is on a list of people wanted by police, was intercepted by immigration officers at the Lok Ma Chau border crossing when he tried to leave for Shenzhen at about 10.30pm on Wednesday.

He was handed over to police and then arrested in connection with the break-in.

His identity was established after police arrested two other mainland men, both 24, and recovered more than 500,000 yuan (HK$632,000) and jewellery worth more than HK$5 million in Discovery Bay on Saturday.

"About 7,000 yuan was found on the third suspect. We are still trying to track down the missing loot," a police source said, referring to about 500,000 yuan and HK$2 million worth of jewellery.

As of last night, the suspect arrested on Wednesday was still being detained for questioning at Tsuen Wan police station and had not been charged.

Police received the report of the burglary from a domestic helper last Friday after a safe containing more than one million yuan and about HK$7 million worth of jewellery was stolen from a luxury home in Seabee Lane in Discovery Bay. The owner of the house - a Hong Kong businesswoman with retail enterprises on the mainland - was said to be away from the city at the time of the burglary.

At about 5.30am on Saturday, two mainland men were caught at the Discovery Bay pier to Central. Police recovered two-thirds of the stolen property from them.

The pair were charged with burglary and appeared in Tsuen Wan Court on Monday. The case was adjourned to September 3.

The three men arrived in Hong Kong from Guangxi on July 8.

Detectives from the New Territories South regional crime unit are investigating. There were 883 reports of burglary in the first four months of this year, a 10.8 per cent drop from the same period last year.