A GANG of youths yesterday carried out a series of raids on petrol filling stations over three-hour period in an area extending from south Dublin into Co Wicklow.
The gang of four youths, all wearing balaclavas, broke into - and stole small amounts of cash and cigarettes at five filling stations and attempted to rob another. The gang used a BMW car, which at one staged was chased by gardai as it left one of the filling stations but it escaped.
A Garda spokesman said that it was assuming that the raids were all carried out by the same gang. A black BMW, believed to have been stolen, was used in each one and the method was the same.
No one was injured in the raids, which began at 12.45 a.m. when the gang used a sledge-hammer to smash the front door of the Fortfield filling station in Terenure, Dublin. They stole a small amount of money from the cash register.
They then headed for the Texaco service station, Monkstown Road, Blackrock, but an attempt to break in failed. They continued on to the Vartry service station in Ashford, Co Wicklow. There, the youths, armed with crowbars and sledge-hammer, broke the glass in the door and stole a small amount of cash and cigarettes.
The Jet service station in Dundrum village was their next target where, at about 1.30 a.m., they stole a small amount of cash and two bulk boxes of assorted cigarettes. It was there that the Garda patrol car intercepted the BMW as it came out of the forecourt but it made off at speed towards Milltown.
The next raid was at 1.50 a.m. at the West Pier filling station, Crofton Road, Dun Laoghaire. The robbers wielding a sledge-hammer, one of them broke a security camera. They took the drawer of the cash register which contained a small amount of money.
Their final robbery was at the Esso station, Nutgrove Avenue, Rathfarnham, at 3.25 a.m. The gang smashed the front door with a sledge-hammer and took cash and a small quantity of cigarettes.