A GARDA search was still under way last night for a suspect who had been fired at by two gardaí after he revved his car and drove it at armed detectives at a checkpoint.
The man was still at large despite gardaí having arrested a second person for questioning.
The incident unfolded on Sunday as members of the Garda’s Organised Crime Unit were following a suspected gangland criminal as he drove to a number of locations in Wicklow and Kildare.
The man, who has been implicated in armed robberies involving hostage taking, was believed to be meeting another criminal where a gun was to be exchanged for a sum of money. However, just as the exchange was about to take place, gardaí moved in on two vehicles close to the village of Ballymore Eustace to arrest both drivers.
The suspects stopped their cars when a Garda car partially blocked their progress and one of the men was arrested at the scene. However, when two armed detectives walked towards the other man’s car, which was stationary, he revved the engine and sped away, forcing the detectives to jump out of the way. The gardaí fired a number of shots after the car, but it did not stop.
The man arrested at the scene is a 30-year-old from west Dublin who is known to gardaí for his suspected involvement in organised crime. He is regarded as a gang leader. He was detained under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act and was still being held last night at Naas Garda station.
Gardaí believe the man who fled is from the south of the country. He is believed to have been trying to buy a gun when gardaí tried to arrest him. A handgun and several thousand euro in cash were found at the checkpoint on Sunday, having been thrown, apparently, from one of the vehicles as gardaí moved in.
A second man was arrested in Co Wicklow yesterday afternoon under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act. He is in his 30s and is a foreign national. Gardaí believe he is in the same organised crime gang as the suspect who was arrested on Sunday.