Police appeal for information about four incidents involving red Ford Fiesta

Police are appealing for information about four suspicious incidents involving a red Ford Fiesta that took place in Oldham and Rochdale on Friday (24 August 2018).

The first incident took place at around 3pm when three men broke into a property on Ripponden Road in Denshaw. After searching the property, it is believed the three offenders fled the scene in a red Ford Fiesta.

The second incident is believed to have happened around 40 minutes later as three masked men forced their way into a property on Foxhill in Shaw and threatened the elderly occupants with a screwdriver. The men searched for valuables before fleeing the scene.

Although the occupants were shaken up by the incident, thankfully nobody was physically injured.

At around 4pm it was reported to police that three men travelling in a red Ford Fiesta had smashed the windows of a car travelling on Turf Hill Road in Rochdale with weapons in an apparent road rage incident.

The offenders then got back in the car and drove off, leaving the victim at the scene uninjured.

The final incident took place between 4:50pm and 5:05pm whereby three men forced their way into the home of an elderly couple on Hereford Street in Rochdale and threatened the occupants in a similar fashion to the earlier incident in Shaw.

The men fled the scene with valuables from the house.

Detective Chief Inspector Gary McIntyre, of GMP’s Oldham Borough, said: “This is quite a strange set of circumstances involving four separate incidents that stretch across two different towns but are very similar in nature.

“A number of the victims involved are vulnerable people but thankfully none of them were physically injured and we are doing all we can to find those responsible.

“Although the investigation is still in its infancy so at this stage we cannot say with absolute certainty that these incidents are linked, given the descriptions of the people involved and the car used, we are currently treating them as such.

“With that in mind, I want to urge anyone with information that can help us with our enquiries to please contact police as a matter of urgency.”

Anybody with information should contact police on 0161 856 9059, quoting any of the following incident numbers of the 24 August 2018: 1231, 1243, 1401, 1416. Alternatively, you can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.