Niall O'Connor

A GARDA CAR was rammed head on by a stolen car driving on the wrong side of the road in the early hours of this morning in County Cork.

It is believed the BMW X5 had been stolen in a burglary in Rochestown, Cork and was then used by a car theft gang to travel around to find other cars to steal. 

Sources said that the gang responsible are suspected to be a Cork city-based group of teenagers who are on nightly stolen car theft sprees across the region. 

The incident happened as gardaí responded to reports at 2.30am that a gang were trying to steal cars in the area of Belgooly, a village between Cork and Kinsale. 

The area is around about 30kms from the southern suburbs of the city and beyond Cork Airport. It is a very rural area with small villages and tight winding roads.

A local unit from Kinsale responded immediately to the call and encountered the stolen car which then crossed to the wrong side of the road and rammed the patrol car head-on.

The gardaí on board were uninjured, but their car was damaged. Other units also responded and took up the pursuit. 

Sources said that units from across Cork responded, and the chase made its way through the villages of Belgooly, Riverstick, Ballyhandle, and Ballinhassig along tight and winding back roads.

After an eleven kilometre pursuit, which involved multiple incidents of dangerous driving by the stolen car including driving on the wrong side of the road in an attempt to evade gardaí, the engine of the BMW malfunctioned, and the car came to a stop. 

A foot pursuit followed, with gardaí chasing the five car thieves over walls and into adjoining fields.

Three of the car thieves were arrested immediately while the driver was spotted later by a patrol car near Halfway Roundabout and detained. 

When he spotted the patrol car he took off running and went into fields but was chased by gardaí and caught at a nearby housing estate. 

A garda spokesman confirmed the incident and said that the response involved the Armed Support Unit and uniformed regular response gardaí.

The force said that the chase ended at Ballinhassig village. A stinger device was deployed also during the pursuit. 

“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 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,” the spokesman said.