A MAN caused a serious crash on the M40 in North Oxfordshire, assaulted a driver with a crowbar and stole an iPhone during a robbery. 

Thames Valley Police said that 4.30am on Tuesday (December 13) a man was driving his white Peugeot van along the motorway southbound between junctions 11 and 10.

Another man then drove at him and rammed the victim’s vehicle from behind, causing him to veer off the road and crash into the hard shoulder.

After the victim stopped, he noticed that the other vehicle had also stopped behind him, before the man used a crowbar to smash the driver’s side window.

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The offender then swung the crowbar at the victim, who deflected the blow before escaping from his van and running up the embankment.

The man did not follow the victim, who then returned to his van and noticed that his iPhone had been stolen.

The police said the offender is a white man, possibly of Eastern European origin, with dark facial hair.

He was approximately 5ft 9ins tall and was wearing a dark navy blue hooded top.

He was driving a grey Audi saloon, possibly an A4 or A6 and is likely to have left the scene with a damaged front bumper.

The victim suffered minor cuts and bruises, but did not require hospital treatment.

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Investigating officer PC Neil Wheeler of the Cherwell & West Oxfordshire Tasking Team, based at Bicester police station, said: “This is a highly unusual and particularly concerning incident.

“It would appear that the victim was deliberately rammed off the M40 at speed in order for the offender to facilitate this robbery.

“It has happened in the early hours of the morning, but I do know that there were a number of vehicles on that stretch of the motorway at the time of the incident.

“These people may have believed that they have witnessed a road traffic collision, but in fact, this has turned out to be a particularly nasty robbery.

“I am appealing to anybody who was driving on the M40, either north or southbound between junctions 11 and 10 on Tuesday morning to please contact Thames Valley Police if you think you witnessed this incident.

“I would also ask anybody who has dash-cam in their vehicles to please check this and contact us if it has captured anything that can assist this investigation.

“I am appealing more widely than just Oxfordshire, as the M40 is a major arterial route between the Midlands and London, and so if anybody believes they saw that they thought was a collision, please call us on 101, quoting reference number 43220559095.

“We believe this to be an isolated incident, but had the potential to be even more serious had the collision caused further injury.

“We are making further enquiries, including checking ANPR cameras, but are appealing directly to the public for their assistance in this investigation.”

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This story was written by Anna Colivicchi, she joined the team this year and covers health stories for the Oxfordshire papers. 

Get in touch with her by emailing: Anna.colivicchi@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @AnnaColivicchi