Hong Kong, March 24 A Hong Kong police sergeant drew his gun during a stand-off with a knife-wielding robber and recovered a bag worth about HK$390,000 ($51,400) stolen from a businesswoman, a media report said on Tuesday.
According to initial investigation, the woman posted the Hermes Birkin bag for sale on the Carousell online selling platform last year, claiming the black crocodile-skin luxury bag was 99 per cent new and worth HK$399,000, he South China Morning Post said in the report.
Posing as a buyer, the gang, a trio, contacted the woman online and after she lowered the price, they agreed to meet outside an industrial building in Kwai Chung on Monday night.
The woman, who runs a trading company, went to the meet-up accompanied by her sister and a male friend, according to the police.
Superintendent Iu Wing-kan, assistant Kwai Tsing district commander (crime), said that while the trio waited for the buyer, three men dressed in black, wearing masks and brandishing metal bars rushed out and attacked the group, snatched the handbag and ran away.
Plain-clothes officers who were patrolling the area discovered the hold-up and chased after the gang.
Officers caught up with one suspect, and the 18-year-old man pulled out the knife and threatened them, the report quoted the Superintendent as saying.
Officers recovered the handbag from him and arrested him for robbery an offence that carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
The other two suspects are estimated to be about 20 years old, the South China morning Post report added.
( With inputs from IANS )