Man arrested over Pat Heung village house burglaries after SmartView tracking
Hong Kong police arrested a man for two Pat Heung village house burglaries in May and November. The suspect was identified after officers tracked a suspicious vehicle using the SmartView CCTV scheme. Police urged residents to secure all doors and windows and install security cameras.
Hong Kong police have arrested a man in connection with two burglaries at village houses in Pat Heung after tracking a suspicious vehicle through the SmartView CCTV scheme, the force said on Saturday.
In mid-May, a burglar broke into a three-storey village house in Pat Heung, prising open a second-floor balcony door lock and searching the premises. No property was lost. A domestic helper discovered the scene and alerted the owner, who reported the incident to police.
In mid-November, another two-storey village house in Pat Heung was burgled. The intruder climbed over a wall and used a screwdriver to force open a living room window. The owner, who lives alone, heard a noise from the ground-floor bedroom and went to investigate. He saw the burglar holding a flashlight and peering into the living room. The intruder fled by climbing the wall.
Police believe the same person was responsible for both cases. The Pat Heung rural patrol team and the Yuen Long police intelligence unit reviewed large amounts of CCTV footage and used intelligence analysis under the SmartView system to track a suspicious vehicle seen in the area at the time of the incidents. This led to the identification of the suspect, who was arrested on Thursday.
Police urged village house residents to lock all doors, windows, gates and balcony doors before sleeping or leaving home, and not to be complacent about security on higher floors. They advised installing high-definition CCTV and motion-sensor lighting around walls, entrances and balconies, and to report any suspicious people or vehicles to police.
