Stolen BMW rams Garda patrol car in West Cork, four teens arrested after 11km chase

A stolen BMW X5 rammed a Garda car head-on in Co Cork at 2.30am. Four male youths were arrested after an 11km pursuit through rural villages.

Stolen BMW rams Garda car in West Cork, four youths held after 11km pursuit

A stolen BMW X5 rammed a Garda patrol car head-on in the early hours of Wednesday morning in County Cork, TheJournal.ie reports. The collision occurred as gardaí responded to reports that a gang was attempting to steal cars in the area of Belgooly, a village situated roughly 30 kilometres south of Cork city, between Cork and Kinsale.

The BMW had been taken during a burglary at a residence in the Rochestown area of Cork earlier that night. Sources told TheJournal.ie that the gang responsible are suspected to be a Cork city-based group of teenagers carrying out nightly stolen car theft sprees across the region.

A local unit from Kinsale responded to the call at 2.30am and encountered the stolen vehicle, whose driver crossed to the wrong side of the road and struck the patrol car head-on. The gardaí on board were uninjured, though their vehicle sustained damage. Additional units were immediately deployed.

The pursuit covered eleven kilometres through the villages of Belgooly, Riverstick, Ballyhandle and Ballinhassig along tight, winding back roads. During the chase, the driver repeatedly drove on the wrong side of the road in attempts to evade pursuing units. A stinger device was also deployed. The pursuit ended when the BMW's engine malfunctioned and the car came to a halt near Ballinhassig village.

A foot chase followed. Gardaí pursued five individuals over walls and into adjoining fields. Three were arrested at the scene. The driver was spotted shortly afterwards near Halfway Roundabout by a patrol car; he fled on foot into fields but was caught at a nearby housing estate.

A Garda spokesman confirmed the full response involved the Armed Support Unit alongside uniformed regular response gardaí.

"Four male youths, three aged in their mid-teens and one aged 19 years, were arrested and are currently detained under Section Four of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 at Garda stations in County Cork," the spokesman said.

"The recovered vehicle, a BMW X5, which was stolen earlier in the night in the course of a burglary at a residence in the Rochestown area of Cork, has been seized for technical examination. No injuries were reported during the incident. Investigations are ongoing."

A fifth individual who had been in the vehicle remains unaccounted for. The Rochestown burglary and the series of car theft attempts in the Belgooly area form part of the wider investigation now under way.

Source: TheJournal.ie