Gardai from all over the midlands were involved in a chase before a man and a woman in their 20s were arrested in Mullingar yesterday following a fatal hit-and-run accident. Nine squad cars and the Garda helicopter were involved in the chase.
The crash, which occurred at about 4 p.m., claimed the life of a 60-year-old Meath woman on the main Dublin-Galway road near the village of Milltownpass, Co Westmeath.
It is understood that the 29year-old man had made an appearance at Galway District Court yesterday morning over the unauthorised taking of two vehicles and also of burglary. He was released on bail to appear before the court at a later date. The man and the woman, both from Dublin, are suspected of being involved in a number of crimes in the Galway area earlier in the day. The car in which they were travelling at the time of the fatal accident was stolen from the grounds of Galway Regional Technical College.
According to a Garda spokesperson, the people detained are believed to have been involved in at least five hit-and-runs in the Galway area.
Shortly after the court appearance they stole a jacket, and as they made they way back to Dublin they are believed to have committed a burglary close to Kilbeggan, about 14 miles from Mullingar. Another Garda spokesperson said a number of Garda stations were interested in talking to the two people. A short time later, a car sped through a garda checkpoint near Tyrrellspass and this vehicle was subsequently involved in the accident in which the sole occupant of an oncoming car received fatal injuries. A Garda spokesperson said the occupants of the stolen car then "took to the fields". Shortly afterwards, gardai in Mullingar received a report of a car having been stolen in the locality and the Garda helicopter, which had been called in, spotted it. As about eight patrol cars honed in on the suspects they abandoned their vehicle at Lynn road, on the outskirts of Mullingar.
Just before 5.30 p.m. a young woman who had minor facial injuries was detained by a member of the Garda search party. At about the same time a report was received that a man had broken into a house in a nearby estate. After he had been disturbed by the occupants, he fled and hailed a passing taxi.
He asked to be dropped near a local hotel, about three miles from Mullingar and it was there, shortly after 6 p.m., that he was arrested after staff had become suspicious of him.
The woman was later taken to Mullingar General Hospital, where she was treated for her injuries.
Her companion is being questioned about a series of incidents in Galway and a car-theft at Rochfordbridge yesterday evening.
He was taken to Mullingar garda station, where he was detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act. A Garda spokesman described the man as "very ill".
A Garda spokesman later confirmed that both suspects will appear at a special sitting of Mullingar District Court this morning.