An intoxicated man stole an idle taxi in Lan Kwai Fong early Saturday and drove it to Wan Chai, where he abandoned it by the side of the road.
The man, who is British and holds a Hong Kong identity card, tested almost five times over the drink drive limit, according to Oriental Daily.
At around 1am on Saturday, a taxi driver, surnamed Cheng, had his taxi parked at the intersection of Lyndhurst Terrace and Cochrane Street in Central. He was chatting with other taxi drivers when the foreigner said he wanted to go to Sai Kung. Cheng waved him off, telling him “out of service.”
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The man then got into the taxi, put his backpack carrying a tennis racket in the front passenger seat, and drove off.
Startled, Cheng and two taxi drivers got into a taxi to chase the man. Cheng also called the police.
Around an hour later, they found Cheng’s empty taxi on Lockhart Road in Wan Chai. Believing that the man might not be far, they searched the area and found him at the intersection of Hennessy Road and Fenwick Street.
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Police arrived and had the man take a breathalyzer test, in which he tested around five times over the city’s maximum blood alcohol level for driving.
He was arrested on four charges including taking conveyance without authority, drunk-driving, driving without a license and driving without third-party insurance.
Cheng said the man did not steal anything from his taxi and that there was no damage to his vehicle.
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