Driver hijacked at knifepoint and £700,000 load stolen
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By Hayley Pink HAULIERS HAVE been warned to remain vigilant after a lorry driver was hijacked at knifepoint in Hampshire on Monday, 9 July and forced to drive his truck to Northamptonshire, where £700,000worth of cosmetics was stolen.
The driver was travelling in a 40ft white, unmarked artic with an 02 registration plate through the New Forest on the A31 between Picket Post and the M27 J1 between 7.30pm and 8.30pm, when a woman driving a mid-blue saloon car lagged him down by lashing her lights.
She accused the driver of damaging her car and they started to argue.
A white vehicle then pulled up behind the lorry and several men got out. One of them threatened the lorry driver with a knife and forced him to drive his truck in the direction of Oxford.
The man with the knife is described as white, at least 6ft tall, stocky, with short dark hair and wearing a boiler suit. The woman was white, in her 20s, and wearing black leggings and a dark top.
The lorry’s cargo – on blackwrapped pallets – was ofloaded onto another lorry in Northamptonshire.
The hijacked vehicle was later abandoned near Crick where a passerby spotted it and released the driver, who had been restrained in the cab. He was unharmed during the incident.
Detective inspector Ellie Hurd, of Western Area CID, says: “We want to alert lorry drivers to this situation and warn them to be wary of any similar incidents.
“Our advice to them would be to stay in the cab with the doors locked.” Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact DI Hurd at Southampton Central police station on 0845 0454545 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.