Three gardai were assaulted with iron bars and lump hammers by four men who confronted them in a stolen vehicle and then made off with the Garda patrol car in the early hours of yesterday.
The attackers left behind a stolen Volvo which had earlier been used in a supermarket robbery, but in making their escape they forgot to take the proceeds of the robbery with them.
The three gardai were taken to Tallaght Hospital where they received treatment for their injuries. They received extensive bruising but no bones were broken and they were discharged from hospital yesterday. A series of events led to the incident which happened at around 4.30 a.m. yesterday.
A patrol car from Tallaght Garda station had been rammed by two stolen cars in the Brittas area and the gardai in the car called for assistance from colleagues in other areas.
Three gardai from Rathmines Garda station who were on patrol in the neighbouring area responded. On their way to assist, they drove down Slademore Road, in the vicinity of the Slade Valley Golf Club, Brittas.
There, in an unrelated incident, they were confronted and stopped by men in another stolen car, a Volvo, which had been used earlier in a robbery at a supermarket at Stradbally.
Four men, armed with iron bars and hammers, got out of the car and attacked the three gardai with the weapons. The attackers then escaped in the patrol car, leaving behind the Volvo. When gardai recovered the car, they discovered it contained the proceeds of the supermarket robbery.
The patrol car was later found abandoned in the Kilkeel area of Co Kildare.
The four had stolen another car, a silver Volkswagen Passat which has not yet been found.
Gardai are investigating the assaults but no arrests have so far been made.