A 44-year-old Dublin detective garda may face a charge of dangerous driving causing death in relation to a hit-and-run accident on Sunday night in which a cyclist was killed.
The detective, who is attached to the National Bureau of Crime Investigation (NBCI) in Harcourt Street, was arrested yesterday at 3.30 p.m. and brought to Clondalkin Garda station for questioning.
In a statement last night the Garda Press Office said the officer has been suspended from duty pending the outcome of the investigation.
He was arrested at Rathcoole under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, which is normally used only for the detention and interrogation of people suspected of serious offences. He can be detained for 12 hours.
Gardai had earlier recovered an unmarked Garda squad car which is understood to belong to the NBCI motor pool at Harcourt Street.
It is understood the car was abandoned after the accident, which happened in the early hours of yesterday morning on the Naas dual carriageway between the M50 intersection and Newlands Cross, near the SDS Distribution centre.
The victim, Mr Gerard O'Neill (36), a single man of Cherrywood Road, Clondalkin, was cycling along the hard shoulder of the dual carriageway when he was hit by a car. His body was noticed by a passing motorist at around 2.45 a.m.i began their investigation.
It is believed Mr O'Neill may have lain for up to an hour on the hard shoulder before the motorist discovered his body. He was taken to St James's Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Local gardai said the injuries suggested Mr O'Neill was struck by a car travelling at considerable speed.
Officers took video film from security cameras on the perimeter of the SDS centre and other premises along the dual carriageway.
Meanwhile, a Dublin man injured when he was struck by a car in the early hours of Saturday morning has died.
Mr Declan Richardson (36), of Cushlawn Park, Tallaght, Co Dublin, who was hit by a car on Leeson Street Bridge at 6.15 a.m. on Saturday, died in Beaumont Hospital yesterday.