Police Arrest 73-year-old Suspect After Bank Robbery

Police said early on Friday morning that they had arrested a man suspected of robbing a bank in Yau Ma Tei, hours after the robbery took place.

Officers had earlier reported that a man robbed the bank on Nathan Road of HK$14,000 in cash some time after 3.30pm on Thursday, then fled. He had brandished a gun-like object, they said.

Superintendent Alan Chung of the Kowloon West regional crime unit said officers tracked down the 73-year-old suspect to a village house in Pat Heung in Yuen Long at around 11pm on Thursday.

He said they recovered some of the cash robbed from the bank and found the clothes the suspect wore during the robbery.

Chung also said the object the suspect had held was a toy gun.

The force said the man came from Singapore and has overstayed in Hong Kong for more than 10 years.

They said the suspect does not have a job and that his wife, who is a foreigner with a Hong Kong ID, is retired. They said they believe he committed the crime because he was in debt.

Officers said they believe the suspect is linked to a case at a pharmacy in July 2020 in which a man brandished a lighter, threatening robbery, but later fled.