3rd October 2023 – (Hong Kong) A chaotic car chase took place in Cheung Sha Wan, involving a private vehicle that ran a red light and had an expired driving licence. During the pursuit by traffic police, the private car became trapped in a congested intersection due to a red light. Despite the officers’ instructions, the driver of the car disregarded their commands and exited the vehicle. In response, one officer raised his firearm for 20 seconds as a warning, while another officer repeatedly struck the car’s window with a baton. However, the driver managed to ram through four vehicles and escape onto the pedestrian walkway. Following the event, more video footage emerged, revealing pedestrians fleeing in panic as the private car careened onto the sidewalk. Some narrowly avoided being hit, while others were almost struck by the reckless driver. Witnesses across the street were horrified by the car’s disregard for public safety, exclaiming, “How terrifying! Utterly reckless!”
One of the video clips captured the scene from a car trapped in the traffic congestion on Castle Peak Road. Several pedestrians were seen running from Tai Nan West Street towards Yee Kuk West Street. Some continuously glanced back, and seconds later, the footage captured the offending private car entering the frame. One female pedestrian dressed in black quickly ran off the road to avoid the oncoming vehicle. Another woman, wearing a light-coloured skirt and pulling a skateboard, narrowly managed to jump into the adjacent building through a side door obstructed by a retractable barrier. Just as she leapt to safety, the private car passed by. Even after the car had driven away, the woman in the light-coloured skirt remained visibly shaken, repeatedly looking back towards the road the car had traversed.
Another video clip, filmed from across the street at the scene of the incident, showed the private car colliding with another nearby vehicle and three taxis parked in a row at a traffic light. The rear of one taxi was swept onto the sidewalk, scattering debris. After colliding with the vehicles, the private car veered to the rightmost lane of Castle Peak Road. From there, it drove onto the pedestrian walkway in the opposite direction, prompting shocked onlookers on the other side of the street to exclaim, “Wow! How terrifying! Utterly reckless!” Some even speculated that the fleeing private car was “definitely a drug vehicle.”
The police stated that while dealing with a traffic incident in the West Kowloon Traffic Division, personnel discovered a private car suspected of violating traffic regulations at the intersection of Castle Peak Road and Tai Nan West Street. When the officers approached to conduct an inspection, the car failed to stop as instructed and fled towards Wing Hong Street. Subsequently, it was found that the car’s driving licence had expired. The officers pursued the vehicle and managed to intercept it nearby, but the driver still refused to stop.