Burglars snatch HK$700,000 in cash and valuables from Hong Kong home while woman sleeps
- House on Redhill Peninsula in Stanley targeted as thieves escape with six watches, diamond necklace, handbag and HK$16,000 in cash
- Burglaries in city up nearly 50 per cent in first half of year, say police
Police were called to a high-end residential estate in southern Hong Kong on Tuesday after a 49-year-old woman woke up to discover she had been burgled.
The break-in was discovered shortly before 7am, when she found HK$700,000 (US$90,000) in cash and valuables had been stolen from the Redhill Peninsula house in Cedar Drive, Stanley.
“Initial investigation showed six watches, a diamond necklace and a handbag were stolen along with HK$16,000 in cash in the incident,” a police spokesman said.
Officers scouted the area, but no arrests were made, and police were checking security camera footage.
His neighbour, French consul general Alexandre Giorgini, had his house burgled in January.
According to police, 1,156 burglaries were reported in the first half of this year, an increase of 47.1 per cent from 786 in the same period last year.
To cope with the rising trend, police have stepped up patrols and conducted anti-burglary operations.
Burglary reports more than doubled across the first and second half of last year, going from 786 to 1,608, as police manpower was stretched by anti-government protests.
