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Thief cornered by vigilant traffic ladies
 "Well done, wardens . . . ": Lai May-lin and Sy Mei-mei are praised by YT District's Hui Chun-tak |
If you were a traffic warden, what would you do if a snatching suspect sped towards you?
OffBeat spoke to Traffic Wardens Lai May-lin and Sy Mei-mei of Yau Tsim District Traffic Team, who told us how they recently dealt with this situation.
At about 11 pm on April 18, while walking outside Park Lane on their way back to Tsim Sha Tsui Police Station after their shift ended, they heard a man had snatched a woman's wallet and $400 in a convenience store near Kowloon Park. They were then alerted by a suspicious man rushing towards them from that direction.
Ms Lai said: "The appearance of the man matched the description given by the console and he was holding a wallet and some money."
The pair stealthily followed him and made the intercept near Nathan Road, recovering all the lost property.
They said as they were not trained or equipped like police, observation and vigilance were their primary protective equipment.
Ms Lai added: "When the suspect approached us, I noticed that he didn't have any weapons. Also, he was quite exhausted after being chased by several officers and some members of the public, so we grasped this opportunity to capture him."
Although it was not their duty to arrest criminals, they pledged to stay vigilant and alert on duty, ready to help Police and people in need.
Their efforts were praised by Yau Tsim District Operations Officer Hui Chun-tak who said: "They did more than expected. It proves traffic wardens are as vigilant as other Police officers, always ready to take prompt action to deal with unexpected incidents."