Hong Kong police arrest 2 men, hunt for 3 after family robbed of 2 phones in home

Hong Kong police have arrested two men and are searching for three others on suspicion of stealing two mobile phones after breaking into a public housing flat where an eight-member family lives.

Preliminary investigations revealed on Thursday that one of those at large owed money to a man and was coerced into robbing the family. The suspect is believed to have known the father personally.

The force received a report at around 5am on Wednesday that five people had broken into the flat in Lok Tin House of Tsz Lok Estate in Tsz Wan Shan.

The men allegedly went to the bedroom of the 15-year-old son living in the flat and pointed a knife at him when he tried to call police. They took his iPhone 12, which cost around HK$2,000 (US$257). They then headed to the bedroom of the mother, 59, and snatched her HK$600 Samsung phone before fleeing the scene.

Based on surveillance footage, police officers tracked and intercepted a seven-seater on Sai Yee Street in Mong Kok, where they located the two men, aged 29 and 35 and both unemployed, who were involved in the suspected robbery.

They also found a half-metre-long plastic ruler and zopiclone – a hypnotic drug used for the short-term treatment of insomnia – inside the car.