One arrested after joyriding in Rathmullen
ONE youth was arrested in Rathmullen on Sunday evening following reports of a number of scrambler bikes driving dangerously in the area.
Gardaí attended the scene at approximately 7pm on Sunday after receiving a number of complaints about youths riding the bikes at speed through the estate.
A spokesperson for the gardaí said members pursued both bikes and following a chase on foot one 17-year-old youth was arrested and his motorbike was detained. He said the gardaí are seeking the public’s assistance in identifying the second motorcyclist involved in the incident.
The arrest comes following a number of joyriding incidents in local estates over the past four months.
At a recent Joint Policing Committee meeting local Councillor Paul Bell said local residents in the Finian’s Park and Rathmullen Park estates were extremely frustrated at the ongoing problem and what they saw as the lack of action on this issue. He said it was ‘only a matter of time before an innocent citizen or child is killed in the estate’.
Meanwhile, gardaí are investigating a spate of number plate thefts in the area over the past week. On Tuesday, July 11th the number plates of an 09 Black Volkswagen Golf were stolen from a car parked at Port Oriel, Clogherhead sometime between 4.30pm and 5.45pm.
Two days later the number plates of a car parked for the day in Mell, Drogheda were stolen sometime between 8.30am and 5.45pm.
On Friday 14th a man attending a wedding in Bellingham Castle returned to his car to find the Northern Ireland registered number plates from his red Fiat Leon stolen.
A burglary at Drogheda Port overnight between 7pm on July 11th and 8am the following morning is also being investigated. The wheelhouse and a sanddregger were broken into. A number of items, including an orange survival suit, a Hewlard Packard laptop and an alcatel mobile phone were stolen.
On July 14th gardaí were alerted to a break-in at St Ita’s school on the Balymakenny Road following an alarm activation.
A number of rooms were ransacked but nothing appears to have been taken.