Gangs Raiding Lorries At 50mph To Steal PS5s, Cigs And Phones Before Christmas

Gangs are raiding lorries at high speed in order to steal expensive items such as PS5s, cigarettes, and mobile phones ahead of Christmas.

In a stunt known as a 'rollover', organised criminals chase down delivery trucks before coming up behind them and having one member of the group jump out and break into the back of the wagon.

A report in The Times said they then grab as many items as they can and throw them back into the getaway car.

According to police, there have been 27 thefts like this in the year up to September 2020.

Delivery van drivers have also been warned about the daring thefts, with West Midlands Police saying they had received 10 reports of such crimes in November.

An example of the stunt was shared by police in Romania back in 2012.

CCTV footage showed the thieves lining their car up behind a lorry before one of them pulls themselves out of the sunroof and then attempts to break into the truck's rear doors.

Thieves have been targeting lorries carrying expensive items like PlayStations and mobile phones.

Speaking to The Sun, Chrys Rampley, a former security manager at the Road Haulage Association, said the huge increase in online shopping meant more drivers were being targeted than ever.

She told the publication that many of the drivers are casual workers and aren't trained in security, meaning they are vulnerable to attack.

Ms Rampley also claimed that people working for the delivery firms could be working in cahoots with the gangs.

She said: "Somebody must know when and where that vehicle is and it can't be just random that you are going to attack that. Somebody has done some tipping off."

But such audacity is nothing new, criminals will do anything to get what they want.

Earlier this year, a Tesco supermarket near Dover was targeted by thieves who used a digger to rip two cash machines out of the wall, before ramming police cars while getting away.

The criminals used the digger to steal the ATM machines, before loading them onto the back of a truck and speeding away, accompanied by two other cars.

During their escape, the thieves also deliberately collided with two police cars, causing damage, but no injuries.

The shop, in Whitfield, Kent, is thought to have been targeted in the early hours of the morning, and pictures circulated on social media show the large orange digger discarded outside the front of the premises.

An eyewitness confirmed at the time that the three cash machines at the front of the store were completely wrecked.

The bystander added that 'the digger bucket had damaged the overhanging roof too'.

Topics: Christmas, crime, Tesco

Dominic Smithers

Dominic graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History. Like you, Dom has often questioned how much use a second language has been. Well, after stints working at the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express, along with never setting foot in France, he realised the answer is surprisingly little. But I guess, c'est la vie. Contact us at [email protected]

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