Tin Shui Wai claw shop hit twice in a week
HK01 · 3 SOURCESabout 3 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
A claw machine shop at Kingswood Richly Plaza in Tin Shui Wai was allegedly broken into twice within a week, with the same man suspected in both incidents. CCTV footage uploaded by the shop operator shows a man approaching the self-service coin exchange machine, opening it with tools and leaving with cash. The two thefts, on September 22 and September 28, resulted in losses of about HK$5,000 and HK$2,000 respectively, for a combined total of roughly HK$7,000. Police have classified both cases as shop theft and assigned the Yuen Long criminal investigation team to follow up
Key Points
- Police said the latest report was made at 4:46pm on September 28 after the owner reviewed CCTV from about 2pm that day
- In the September 28 footage, a man wearing a cap carried a bag, crouched by the exchange machine, used tools and left quickly.
- Earlier footage from about 7pm on September 22 showed a bespectacled, masked man loitering, checking the area and then forcing open the machine.
- Sing Tao and on.cc reported the suspect appeared to wear the same blue short-sleeved top and jeans in both incidents, but different caps.
- The shop owner wrote online that the machine had been broken into twice in one week and appealed for anyone who knew the suspect to come forward.
Why It Matters
The case underlines the vulnerability of largely unattended claw machine shops, where self-service cash or coin machines can become easy targets for quick thefts. For operators in Hong Kong shopping arcades, repeated break-ins can mean not only direct cash losses but also repair costs and pressure to strengthen surveillance and machine security.