Suspected thief caught in dramatic chase
The patrol car Superintendent Jim Browne and a colleague were travelling in was rammed at high speed by a van following a store robbery in north Cork.
Sgt Bill Harhen arrested one of the men as they tried to flee the crashed van.
A second man escaped and a dramatic chase along country roads ensued.
Supt Browne, head of the Bruff Garda District, chased the man across fields, through dykes and over ditches before finally arresting him.
Earlier, a multinational retail store had been robbed by a man wielding a hatchet.
The drama unfolded after the Lidl supermarket in Charleville was held up at around 11.30am by a man brandishing an axe.
He ran from the premises with over €1,000, making a getaway along with an accomplice who was waiting outside in a van.
Gardaí in Mallow mounted a hunt for the robbers and alerted gardaí in Bruff.
Following a tip-off, Supt Browne and Sgt Harhen patrolled the Garryspillane area and later came across a van.
As they tried to stop the vehicle, it reportedly attempted to force them off the road during an overtaking manoeuvre.
A garda spokesman said: “Supt Browne and Sgt Harhen kept up a high-speed pursuit and eventually forced the van to stop. When it did, one man jumped from the vehicle and headed for the fields.
“Supt Browne took off on foot after him and the chase went on over ditches and dykes. Supt Browne caught up with this individual and made an arrest.”
Two men in their 30s, from the Kilmallock area, were being questioned at Bruff Garda Station last night in connection with the Charleville robbery. A sum of money was reportedly recovered.
Supt Barry McPolin, Mallow, leading the investigation, said: “Our colleagues in the Limerick division helped us with a cordon in the general area after we received information that the culprits headed towards that side of the country.”
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