A disgruntled businessman blocked a road in Sha Tin with three of his cars — yes, three — after he briefly parked his Mercedes outside a bank and returned to find it had been clamped.
According to Apple Daily, the incident happened yesterday morning at 9am when a 55-year-old man, surnamed Mo — who reportedly runs an engineering and construction company — went to a Bank of China ATM at City One in Sha Tin, parking his Mercedes on Pak Tak Street outside the bank. (The car was also parked near the entrance to a residential housing estate’s parking lot, it should be noted.)
Mo returned from the ATM to an unpleasant surprise, finding his car had been clamped, with someone from the estate’s management office there to inform him that he had to pay a fine to release the car.
As Mo explained to Apple Daily: “If I was going to take 30 minutes long to do something, I would use the car park, but it’s barely been a minute, so how could I go to the car park?”
Thus began what Coconuts HK is calling the Siege of Sha Tin.
Rather than cough up the cash, Mo decided to take a cab back to his offices in Fo Tan, returning in his seven-seat Toyota van and parking it in the middle of two lanes, next to the clamped Mercedes.
He then took another taxi to his home in Ma On Shan, got into his Lexus, and drove it down to City One, where he parked it next the Toyota, effectively blocking the entire road with his three cars.
The Toyota and Lexus were clamped shortly afterwards.
Dozens of people gathered around to check out the commotion, and security from the estate had to put up traffic cones and divert motorists away from the three-car roadblock.
Police officers arrived at the scene at about 10am after receiving a report, and at 12pm, the building’s management arranged for a tow truck to haul away the Toyota and Lexus. The stand-off finally ended shortly thereafter, with Mo agreeing to pay the HK$320 (US$41) fine to remove the clamp from his Mercedes that had sparked the battle of wills in the first place.
Mo was then arrested for disrupting public order and causing an obstruction in a public place. The case has been handed over to Sha Tin district’s criminal division for further investigation.
Also at the scene was Sha Tin District Councillor Wong Ka-wing, who told the newspaper that the housing estate whose entrance Mo had parked near also happened to have a senior citizens’ home, and that ambulances often need to come in and out of the building.
“I understand having your car clamped is not a nice feeling, but think about it: it only costs HK$20 to park your car in a car park,” he said. “If you park your car somewhere and you get clamped, you have to pay a fine.”
Reader Interactions