Gone in 30 seconds: Boy, 10, arrested over $640k luxury watch robbery in Hong Kong

Instead of being in school, a 10-year-old boy, still donning his school uniform, decided to partake in a luxury watch heist. 

The Form One pupil, was arrested by Hong Kong police on Wednesday (Sept 13), on suspicion of taking part in the HK$3.7 million (S$642,000) robbery of a luxury watch store, Hong Kong news outlet The Standard reported. 

The young boy, along with two other robbers, had allegedly ambushed the VIP Station store on Canton Road in Tsim Sha Tsui with a butcher's knife and a sledgehammer on Monday at 3.40pm, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported. 

Wearing caps and surgical masks to hide their identities, the three robbers, believed to be Pakistanis with Hong Kong identity cards, threatened the staff and smashed their display counters, taking 20 luxury watches such as Rolex timepieces.

They then fled in a Toyota seven-seater with a fourth suspect.

The smash-and-grab heist lasted just 30 seconds, said Hong Kong police. 

A female staff member of the store was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital for minor injuries.

The 10-year-old later revealed during investigation that he was allegedly paid HK$5,000 to take part in the crime.

"The investigation revealed that he skipped school on that day and joined the gang to commit the robbery," SCMP reported. 

The boy was taken to the VIP Station store on Wednesday for a re-enactment of the crime before he was arrested. 

Stolen watches found in backpack

Another suspect, a 14-year-old teenager, was also arrested during a raid on a guest house in Yuen Long.

Superintendent Alan Chung Nga-lun of the Kowloon West regional crime unit told The Standard that they arrested their first suspect, a 19-year-old on Monday at Kowloon Peak.

Officers detained the teenager and was able to retrieve all the stolen watches which was in a backpack found in the bushes nearby, The Standard reported. 

Another student, a 17-year-old, was detained on Monday night on the suspicion of misleading the police, SCMP reported. 

Police shared with local news outlet that they found a car believed to have been used in the robbery in an outdoor car park, the very next day of the heist.

Officers seized a knife and two hammers from the vehicle, SCMP reported.

ALSO READ: Salesman, 26, to be charged over theft of luxury watches worth $1.6m

ashwini.balan@asiaone.com