A man has been remanded in custody after leading gardaí on a high speed car chase along the M4 on Wednesday (July 23 ).
The pursuit saw gardaí follow a Mazda MX-5 convertible for almost 100 kilometres down the M4/N4 all the way from Clondalkin before intercepting the driver at Rathowen on Wednesday afternoon.
The sports car in question was stolen from outside a residence in Lucan, Co Dublin overnight on Tuesday night. Gardaí subsequently came upon the car in the Dublin region on Wednesday afternoon, and followed it onto the M4, after which they pursued it along the M4/ N4 past Mullingar. The car was eventually brought to a halt at Rathowen, shortly after 3.30pm.
Witnesses described how the car was “weaving in and out of traffic” and gardaí had to create impromptu roadblocks to prevent the car taking a sliproad to leave the dual carriageway.
A 30-year-old male, the sole occupant of the car, was arrested by gardaí at Rathowen.
He was charged by Mullingar Gardaí with dangerous driving, and the possession of articles which could be used in the course of a burglary, as well as two other charges.
The man, who is from the Clondalkin area, was brought in custody to the District Court in Mullingar yesterday (Thursday July 24 ), from where he was remanded in custody to the next sitting of Cloverhill District Court.
An eye witness travelling westbound along the N4 on Wednesday afternoon told how the car came “flying” past him on the inside, between two exits, in The Downs area just east of Mullingar.
“I noticed an unmarked car on The Downs roundabout, and a uniformed garda had stopped a lorry on the up-ramp [westbound],” said the Mullingar-bound eyewitness.
“Then just a bit further in [the car] flew past me up the inside. Then, five seconds later... three squads came flying after him, full lights and sirens,” he continued.
“He was weaving in and out of traffic up ahead of me, and he’s very lucky I wasn’t turning in [at the Park Hotel sliproad].
“It’s bad enough overtaking on the hard shoulder, but between two exits is very dangerous,” he added.
