Hong Kong police foil jewelry heist in 17 seconds

A gang of would-be thieves attempted a daring jewelry store heist in downtown Hong Kong but were foiled in literally 17 seconds. The gang pulled up outside the store in the busy Tsim Sha Tsui tourist district, got out of their car nonchalantly dressed almost entirely in black except for the one in white (maybe his thief’s garb was in the wash), and casually walked into the store in broad daylight in front of several dozen eyewitnesses. The five men were armed with traditional precision jewelry stealing equipment: three sledgehammers, two machetes, and a used shopping bag. They immediately began the delicate operation of mildly damaging some cabinets with the hammers, while the guys with the machetes just sort of stood there. 17 seconds later, their daring plot was foiled as several armed police entered the store with their own precision anti-thieving weapons: guns. According to the police report, one of the thieves received a slight scratch during the arrest. Three of the men were found with documents showing they were asylum seekers, and the other two are suspected of being illegal immigrants.