A Hong Kong jewellery shop employee chased a suspected thief for 300 metres, catching and subduing the man after he snatched a gold necklace while pretending to be a customer on Thursday.

The suspect, in his 30s, walked into the Castle Peak Road store in Cheung Sha Wan shortly after 3.30pm and asked to view some gold necklaces, police said.

While being shown the valuables, the man snatched one of the necklaces and ran out of the shop. A staff member gave chase.

After a 300-metre pursuit, the suspect was intercepted and subdued with the help of a passer-by on Un Chau Street. The Fook Tai Jewellery shop employee injured his right knee in the incident.

A police spokesman said the necklace was recovered and no property was lost in the incident. The case has been classified as “snatching”. Detectives from the Sham Shui Po criminal investigation unit are following up on the case.

It was the third jewellery shop targeted by robbers in a week.

On Sunday, three robbers smashed three display cabinets and snatched 120 timepieces worth HK$15 million (US$1.9 million) from a watch and jewellery shop in Tuen Mun. The trio fled in a getaway car driven by a fourth suspect.

Last Friday, officers arrested a 46-year-old man hours after a gold bracelet worth HK$5,714 was stolen from a jewellery shop in Kwun Tong.

Between January and March this year, police handled 26 reports of robbery, up 13 per cent from 23 cases logged in the same period in 2022.

In a high-profile case in March, a watch shop in Tsim Sha Tsui was ransacked by four robbers dressed as construction workers, with the gang stealing 46 watches worth more than HK$10 million.

Twenty cases of snatching were reported in the first three months of 2023, a 53 per cent rise from 13 in the same period last year.