A third robber continues to elude gardai following an armed raid at a city centre jewellers on Friday afternoon.
City gardai were yesterday continuing their search for the third member of an armed robbery gang who made off with approximately €100,000 worth of Rolex and Cartier watches from a city centre jewellers. The man’s two accomplices, aged 24 and 25, were arrested in Athenry on Friday just a few short hours after the raid.
The three men, donning black balaclavas, entered Hartmanns jewellers on Williamsgate Street at approximately 1.15pm on Friday armed with a handgun and iron bars and proceeded to terrorise staff and customers before heading off with approximately €100,000 worth of watches from the shop.
Making their getaway on foot, the trio were picked up by a black BMW a short distance from the shop. The vehicle, which had a Dublin registration, was discovered a short time later in Woodquay with the doors open and the engine running. It is believed the group got into a blue-grey Volvo S80 and headed towards Athenry.
Road blocks were quickly erected throughout the city and surrounding suburbs as reports came in that the car had been spotted in the Cartymore area, near Athenry, on the main Galway to Monivea Road at around 1.45pm. Police reacted quickly, speeding to the area along with the assistance of a garda air support helicopter.
Shortly after 5pm two men were arrested as they attempted to run across a field towards a wooded area close to the Galway to Dublin railway line. The third man escaped but it is believed he could be in hiding in the same wooded area where his accomplices were heading. It is thought he could be in possession of the stolen goods, which have yet to be recovered.
The Garda Press Office confirmed yesterday that two men arrested on Friday are still being held at Mill Street Garda Station under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act. Gardai are appealing for anyone information regarding the blue-grey Volvo S80 with the registration number 02-D-72615 to come forward.
Superintendent Tom Curley of Galway Garda Station is also asking that anyone with information which may help lead to the arrest of the third culprit contact Mill Street Garda Station on 091-538000.
