BY AOIFE BARRY
GARDAÍ were forced to use pepper spray in the arrest of three men after a high speed chase in the Newbridge area on Christmas Eve.
At about 8pm on the evening of Christmas Eve in Pearsetown three men set a van and an advertising board on fire, causing minor damage. The culprits left the area and the incident was reported to gardaí. Subsequently, the vehicle the men were in was pursued by the Newbridge patrol car and other units then gave assistance.
At the Ballymany roundabout a garda car was rammed by the fleeing vehicle and a high-speed pursuit continued for 20 minutes, a garda spokesperson told the Kildare Nationalist.
The car reached Mooretown where it was stopped, but the occupants had locked themselves into the car and a window had to be broken to remove them.
In the course of the arrest, pepper spray had to be used by the gardaí to gain control of the three occupants. Two men in their 30s and a 17-year old youth from the Kildare area were arrested following the chase and a file is to be sent to the DPP.
This was one of a number of incidents dealt with by gardaí over the Christmas period. While gardaí say it was a relatively quiet festive period for crime, there were still a number of arrests in the county. In Kildare town, gardaí from Naas arrested a 30year old man on 22 December on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance, namely cannabis resin and heroin (subject to analysis) with intent to supply. The drugs had an approximate street value of €7,500.
The man was taken to Kildare garda station where he was detained under the provisions of Section 2 of the Criminal Justice Drug Trafficking Act 1996. He was charged on 24 December and appeared before a special sitting of Naas District Court on Christmas Eve. He was remanded on bail to appear before Kildare District Court on the 25 February 2010.
There were also some domestic incidents in the Kildare town area and there were arrests on St Stephen’s night for public order offences.
“It was the usual Christmas,” said the garda spokesperson. He added that between 24-28 December there were 12 traffic incidents in the area but no one was seriously injured. In Kildare town, there were three or four accidents on the M7 around the Grey Abbey to Monasterevin stretch of the motorway going southbound.
In Monastereverin, St Paul’s secondary school was targeted on Christmas morning. The burglars entered the school in the early hours of the morning, between 8am and midday. During the break-in a computer was taken and a window was broken. On 28 December, a front window of the town’s post office was smashed in.
Meanwhile, a house in Fernsbridge was also targeted on Christmas Day, when a small sum of cash was taken. A back window was broken by the burglars. Gardaí in Monasterevin are asking anyone with information on these crimes to contact them on 045 525322.
In Naas, things were also described as quiet. There as a burglary in a home in Mountain View on 23 December. A house was ransacked but nothing was taken. There was nobody in the house at the time. A business premises in the Monread area was broken into and a small amount of cash taken on 23/24 December, between 6.30pm and 7.40am. In Sallins on 24 December, there was a reported burglary where a small amount of cash was stolen from a house.
Gardaí are continuing to warn shoppers to keep an eye on their handbags and purses when in supermarkets. There were two incidents in two different supermarkets in Naas recently where shoppers put their handbags in their trolley and got distracted while shopping. Their handbags, which contained money, were then stolen.
The incidents occurred on 22 December in one supermarket at 3pm and on 22 December in another supermarket between 2.50pm 3pm. Sergeant Goode from Naas Garda Station is now warning shoppers to “be conscious” of this issue.
Sergeant Goode added that public order “wasn’t a major issue” in Naas over the Christmas period, and that people “were well behaved”. “There were lots of people out but in general they were well behaved. There were only about five different public order incidents and some of them were drunkenness,” he added. There were no serious road traffic collisions in the area.
Around Naas, gardaí set up mandatory alcohol checkpoints to monitor any drink driving in the area but there were no arrests for drunken driving between 21-28 December In Athy, there were also no major incidents. Road traffic was a big concern given the icy roads in the area but there were no major accidents or an increase in accidents, a spokesperson from Athy Garda Station said.
He added that there were no break-ins reported and no public order arrests.