A suspected pickpocket was filmed in action on board a bus to Tuen Mun on Tuesday.
According to Apple Daily, passenger Mr. Chan saw the suspect board bus 66X at Cheung Sha Wan towards Tuen Mun and sit on the upper deck. “There were a lot of seats on the upper deck, but the man chose to sit next to the victim,” he said. Chan said he thought the suspect’s actions were abnormal, and so he payed extra attention to him. Chan also filmed the suspect secretly while pretending to be talking on the phone.
The suspect placed his hand behind his back and jiggled it around for quite a while, Chan told the paper. Then it seemed like the suspect placed something small into his own backpack. Chan said the suspect got off two stops later along with another person who sat behind him, who Chan suspected to be his accomplice.
Chan said he was then aware that the victim’s right pocket had been sliced open, with the wallet still in his pocket. He warned the victim immediately, he said, then they both attempted to chase after the suspect. However, a third accomplice was stationed at the bottom deck to shield the victim from pursuit, according to Chan. They were unable to track the suspect.
The victim found HK$3,500 missing from his wallet. Chan said he was appalled by the suspect’s stealth. Other passengers called the police to file a report.
Both Chan and a Facebook netizen who claimed to be on the bus at the time said that the suspects spoke fluent Mandarin.
See also: Man finds trousers sliced open in ‘brazen’ pickpocketing attempt aboard Whampoa bus
A spokesperson from the bus company, Kowloon Motor Bus, said that on board a bus 66X that left Olympic Station at 6:25pm, a passenger told the driver that his wallet had been rifled when the bus was around Hing Wah Street, and he had already reported to the police. The driver parked the bus and waited for the police to arrive, then continued on with the route after the police investigation was completed.
A police spokesperson told HKFP that a report was received at 6:55pm on Tuesday that a man, 62, surnamed Tai discovered that his right pocket had been sliced open with HK$3,500 missing from his wallet while on board bus 66X. The case had been listed as attempted pickpocketing, and following preliminary investigations no one has yet been arrested. The case is being followed up by Criminal Investigation Department Team 3 of the Sam Shui Po Police.
