Speedy DJ turns the tables on car thief

KILKENNY hurler DJ Carey survived a high-speed car chase to catch a thief who stole his €50,000 BMW from the forecourt of a garage in Co Kildare.

The country’s leading GAA star showed he’s just as worthy an opponent off the pitch when he jumped into an onlooker’s car and pursued the thief in a chase which involved a number of Garda cars and a Garda helicopter.

The chase on Wednesday night ended with Carey pulling the thief from his BMW.

The hurling star managed to recover his car but several mobile phones, as well as €2,500 in cash were taken. The culprit was still on the run last night.

The drama began when Carey stopped to fill up at Crookstown Motors in Ballytore, Co Kildare on his way back home from Dublin. The Kilkenny star left the car to go inside to pay. While he was inside the shop, he saw his dark blue car being driven away at speed.

It’s the second time in a month that Carey has been a victim of crime. His golf clubs, including a putter given to him by Tiger Woods, were among items taken from another family car outside the Berkley Court Hotel in Dublin several weeks ago.

“When I looked out the window of the shop, I saw my car speeding off up the road. I ran out and got into a car of a man waiting for his brother. This man followed the car while I was on the phone to the gardaí.

“The gardaí followed us for a while and then took over. But the thief put the boot to the floor and we lost him. The car was reported driving erratically around Clane a few minutes later and four or five garda cars joined in the chase. But he must have gone to ground because he escaped them,” Carey said yesterday.

Carey then phoned his sister, Caitriona, who picked him up. But instead of heading straight for home, they decided to make a last-ditch effort to find the car.

“We said we’d drive around for a while, to see if we could see the car. We went up around Celbridge and I spotted it. I saw a fella trying to get into my car. When he saw me, he made a run for it.

“He wasn’t going to out-run me. I caught up with him and gave him a bit of a scare. I had him when another car pulled up beside us. I thought they were going to help me but it turned out to be an accomplice’s car and he jumped in. I tried to get the keys out of their ignition, but they drove away. When you have a €50,000 car under you, you fight for it.

“Thankfully though, they didn’t get a lot of valuables which were in the car.”

The father-of-two is delighted that he managed to survive the incident uninjured.

And he said the trauma of it all won’t impact on his performance in the All Ireland final.

“Nobody has died and that’s what really matters at the end of the day,” he said.