Hong Kong police arrest man after hit-and-run at checkpoint sparks 10-hour hunt

Hong Kong police arrested a man on suspicion of furious driving after a 10-hour manhunt sparked by a hit-and-run crash at a cross-boundary checkpoint in the early hours of Monday.

Police said a car hit a barrier gate at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge checkpoint at 1.17am. The incident was classified as a damage-only traffic accident and a hit-and-run.

Officers located the car near Hoi Wing Road in Castle Peak at about 10.30am and gave chase, intercepting it on Hoi Wong Road at 11.08am.

The driver, a man in his thirties, was arrested on suspicion of furious driving. The New Territories South traffic team is investigating.

A police source said officers from the Airport Security Unit and Emergency Unit had tried to stop the driver after the car hit the gate, but he escaped.

A photograph taken at the checkpoint showed minor damage to the gate.

The source said police later located the car in Tuen Mun using the force’s “SmartView” CCTV system and deployed officers to clear roads and block lanes.

“When three emergency unit police cars approached him, he stepped on the gas and fled, hitting our police car near Hoi Wah Road,” the source said.

“We have deployed two more police cars at the intersection. He passed through the two cars. We then made a U-turn and followed the car. Eventually, it was stopped by our police car on Hoi Wong Road.”

An online video showed two police vehicles trying to block lanes at the junction of Hoi Wing Road and Hoi Wong Road, but the car avoided them at high speed.

The source said the man had also been involved in an earlier hit-and-run incident in Pat Heung, Yuen Long.

Another source said officers had so far found nothing suspicious in the car and the arrested man did not appear to be wanted by police.