Three suspected Hong Kong triad members have been arrested in connection with an assault on a motorist in the wake of the driver’s dispute with an alleged jaywalker.
Hong Kong police on Thursday said the men were alleged to have assaulted the motorist, 30, in the early hours of Monday in Mong Kok.
The incident was said to have happened as the man was driving on Mong Kok Road near the junction with Fa Yuen Street.
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Police said a pedestrian is alleged to have breached traffic rules while crossing.
The motorist pulled over and got into an argument with the pedestrian.
“During the dispute, the pedestrian allegedly claimed to be a triad member and three other men jumped out and joined him,” police said.
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The four punched and kicked the victim and damaged his car before they fled on foot, the force said.
Officers from the Mong Kok anti-triad squad are investigating the case.
Police on Tuesday apprehended two suspected triad members, aged 43 and 46, in Mong Kok after they checked CCTV surveillance footage.
The two were detained for alleged wounding and criminal damage, as well as for claiming to be members of a triad society.
Another suspect, 17, was arrested in connection with the same alleged offences on Wednesday night.
The teenager was still being held for questioning on Thursday morning. The other two suspects were released on bail and inquiries continue.
Police did not rule out further arrests.
The force dealt with 2,334 reports of triad-related crimes across the city last year.
Two high-profile incidents involving gangsters in the New Territories last October prompted sparked separate citywide anti-triad operations.
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Several suspected Sun Yee On triad members assaulted three security guards on October 25 because they were unhappy about their vehicles being impounded for illegal parking outside a Tuen Mun public housing estate.
The force carried out a four-day anti-triad operation in the New Territories. Officers also raided triad-run entertainment venues and closed down gambling dens and brothels.
Four suspected faction leaders of the Wo Shing Wo triad in a separate case on October 31 were accused of verbally abusing three policemen during an operation against illegal parking in Yuen Long.
Police arrested two men in connection with the case a few days later.
One of them was the alleged leader of the faction in Yuen Long, known as “Ku Yeh Wah”.
He was also among those arrested when a white-clad mob armed with sticks and metal rods attacked protesters and commuters at a station overnight on July 21 and 22, 2019, during anti-government protests, but was not charged with any offences.
More from South China Morning Post:
- Hong Kong police arrest suspected triad member, girlfriend’s 10-year-old son over splattering red paint on Tseung Kwan O flat
- Hong Kong police arrest suspected triad member, hunting 3 gangsters after stand-off with officers
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