High-speed chase in Hong Kong

Source:thestar.com

A 4km car chase in Hong Kong ended in the arrest at gunpoint of a man and woman for car theft in the early hours of Wednesday.

The pursuit began on Lung Cheung Road, Wong Tai Sin soon after 12.30am when a police vehicle equipped with number plate recognition technology detected that the licence of a white car had expired.

According to officers, the male driver ignored orders to pull over and accelerated to escape. A female passenger was in the car at the time. Police then gave chase.

At the junction of Wang Chiu Road and Sheung Yuet Road in Kowloon Bay, the car careered out of control, rammed into the police vehicle and mounted a central divider before flipping onto its side.

The driver was still trapped in his vehicle and using a hard object to smash open the window when officers approached.

“As he ignored repeated verbal warnings to drop the object, a police constable drew his gun,” a spokesman for the force said.

Police arrested the man, 25, and his passenger, 20, after he surrendered.

Officers seized a small quantity of illegal drugs along with two fake car number plates. The white car in question was reported to be a stolen vehicle.

The man, a Hong Kong identity card holder of Pakistani origin, was arrested for furious driving, driving without a licence and no third-party insurance, possession of illegal drugs, as well as car theft. His passenger was arrested for car theft.

The two suspects were slightly injured in the incident and two officers, including the constable who drew his gun, complained of chest pains.

The male suspect received bandages at the scene for his injuries, and did not request for hospital treatment, while the two officers and woman were sent to United Christian Hospital.

At noon, the suspects were being held for questioning and had not been charged.

Since March 22, eight police cars equipped with automatic number plate recognition detectors have been deployed to track down vehicles and drivers in breach of traffic regulations across the city. The HK$1.4 million system can identify unlicensed and stolen vehicles and those with registered owners who are disqualified from driving or wanted under traffic warrants.