Thousands of new laptops worth £1.3 million were stolen and a truck driver left injured during an ‘extremely terrifying’ early hours gang robbery.
Police said four men in a dark coloured Audi hatchback approached a grey HGV parked up on Shorten Brook Drive in Altham, where it had been overnight.
They smashed the blue cab window and struck the driver to the head sometime between 4am and 5am on Thursday, January 5.
Officers said the victim was then driven in the truck to a location outside a business premises on Underbank Way on the Link 665 Business Park in Haslingden.
Around 2,000 boxed Medion Erazer P Series and X Series model gaming laptops were then transferred into a DAF CF class 2 truck with a reflective stripe down the side of the cab and curtains.
The vehicle made off in an unknown direction before the HGV cab was set alight.
Police said the truck driver was then dropped off in a car on a track at Saddleworth near to junction 22 of the M62 at around 7am.
DS Melissa Kelly, of East CID, said up to six men are believed to have been involved in the robbery.
Three of the men are described as black, between 30 to 40 years old and were wearing dark clothes.
One was wearing a baseball cap and a fourth man is described as being of Middle Eastern appearance with stubble. They all had short black hair.
DS Kelly said: “The lorry driver was subjected to an extremely terrifying ordeal which included being assaulted. Fortunately he sustained relatively minor injuries and is now recovering.
“We believe that there are at least six men involved in this crime. They have used a HGV truck and at least one car to commit this offence and now have a large number of laptops in their possession.
"They were moving the goods at Link 665 Business Park for around one hour so someone must have seen something.
“They and their associates will be talking about the theft and making efforts to sell on the laptops.
"If you have been offered these for sale or you any information at all that may assist us, please make contact as soon as possible.
"I would also ask people to review any dash cam footage that might have captured the offenders.”
Call police on 101 quoting log number 149 of January 5.
