Masked bike gang attack gardai hunting joyriders
GARDAI came under attack by a gang of masked motorcycle thugs as they tried to make an arrest, it emerged yesterday.
The shameful incident happened on Christmas Eve as plain-clothes officers were dealing with a man who fell off an illegal scrambler.
Sources said as a garda was making an arrest, dozens of youngsters confronted him and his colleagaues on the Tolka Valley Road, Finglas, North Dublin.
A source added: “The gardai were isolated and around 30 people came around them and were revving their bikes and threatening them.
“A motorcyclist wearing a balaclava and riding a high-powered machine then came alongside the unmarked Garda car and smashed in the rear window and the side windows of the car. Gardai called for assistance and they were helped by other units in Dublin – the area was besieged by these thugs.”
In a separate operation officers launched a blitz against illegal scrambler riders in the Cabra and Finglas areas of the capital. Five people were arrested on Illegal scrambler Christmas Day as part of a major operation to tackle illegal scrambler use. Eleven motorbikes and two cars were seized in the areas plagued by people illegally driving scramblers, quads and mopeds on roads.
A Garda spokesman said: “Two of these bikes are confirmed to have been stolen. Five people have been arrested so far, with follow up operations to come in the coming days and weeks as CCTV footage is analysed and results of technical examinations return.
“In the last number of years, there has been a significant problem on Christmas morning with illegally operated Scrambler bikes, Quads and Mopeds on the roads in Cabra and Finglas in Dublin.
“This year, a significant Garda Operation was put in place to tackle this. It began a number of weeks ago with community policing members calling to schools and parents in order to warn of the dangers associated with this activity.
“Leaflets were produced and distributed to dissuade parents from purchasing these vehicles and young people from using them.”