Two gardaí were hospitalised after two patrol cars were rammed by a stolen vehicle which had been involved in a joyride incident in Co Wexford on Sunday night.
The garda cars were rammed in two separate incidents just after 5pm close to the seaside village of Kilmore Quay by a car believed to have been stolen from the Piecestown area of the county.
In the first incident in Kilmore Quay, when an officer approached the stolen car, the driver reversed at speed into the patrol car and then drove off.
A back-up patrol car was also rammed on the Kilmore to Baldwinstown road when officers radioed for help. The gardaí in the second car were injured.
The joyrider then went on to collide with another privately owned vehicle during the joyriding incident. A garda helicopter was drafted in to search for the driver of the stolen car but failed to locate them.
In a statement Gardaiísaid: “Gardaí in Wexford are investigating the theft of a car that occurred in the Piercetown area.
"The vehicle was subsequently reported to have been involved in multiple road traffic collisions in the Wexford area on the evening of Sunday, January 23rd including collisions with two official Garda vehicles in the Kilmore Quay area. The offending vehicle failed to remain at the scene of these incidents.”
The statement added: "The man (the driver of the stolen car) has not yet been arrested and is being treated as a missing person at the moment.”
The stolen car has been recovered, and no arrests have been made yet.
The two injured gardaí were brought to Wexford General Hospital by ambulance following the incident, but their injuries were described as minor, and they have since been discharged.
Garda searches are ongoing.
