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- Police arrested a man in connection with the stabbing death of a Hong Kong taxi driver on Tuesday.
- A woman told the Hong Kong Free Press that she recognized the man after having a beer with him and called police.
- Authorities are still looking for a motive in the case and believe it was a random attack.
Police arrested a man accused of going on the run for two days after killing a Hong Kong taxi driver after a woman he got a beer with recognized him and reported him to the authorities, according to reports.
Matthew Choi was arrested on Tuesday in connection with the stabbing death of a cab driver, which sparked a two-day manhunt in Hong Kong in the middle of a typhoon, according to the Hong Kong Free Press.
Choi didn't resist arrest and was not carrying a weapon when he was arrested, although he did deny killing the taxi driver, according to The Standard, an English publication in Hong Kong.
-Hong Kong Police Force (@hkpoliceforce) October 14, 2021
A woman who spoke to the Free Press using the name Tracy said she spotted Choi on Tuesday at the Man Loon store on Lamma Island, off the coast of Hong Kong, around lunchtime. She told the news outlet that she spoke to Choi while having a beer before they both left to avoid the incoming typhoon.
"He was lovely, gentle and we had a really good chat," she told the Free Press.
When the woman returned to the store at around 6:30 p.m., she noticed Choi still sitting alone in an outdoor seating area wearing wet clothes, which she told the Free Press she found strange.
"Then I remembered a news report I had read that morning and thought 'Oh my God, is this him?,'" she said.
The woman excused herself to the bathroom to check the mugshot that police released of the person wanted for the cab driver stabbing, according to the Free Press. Upon realizing that Choi was the wanted man, she called authorities and went back to sit with him until they arrived.
"He was chatting to me about regular life stuff," she told the news outlet. "And I'm smiling and nodding, whilst at the same time thinking 'I've just called the police on you.'"
Police are still searching for a motive in the case, according to The Standard. Chief Inspector Terrence Tse Tsz-kwan told the news outlet that while it appears Choi acted alone and didn't have any relation to the victim, police are still investigating if he had accomplices.
Choi had a YouTube channel where he talked about being "brainwashed by the microwave" and said he was being followed by someone for a few years, The Standard reported. Investigators told the news outlet they found it unlikely that an argument occurred in the short time that Choi was in the taxi and believe the attack was random.