Gardai hunt OAP hit and run driver WOMAN IN 80S MOWED DOWN
SPANISH police hunting an Irishman who abandoned the scene of a fatal Costa Blanca accident have confirmed they have made an arrest.
They held the 29-yearold after tracking him down through the hire car he abandoned and alerting colleagues at ports and airports to make sure he didn’t leave the country.
The victim of the accident has been described locally as a 45-year-old Peruvian man.
The accident happened around 4am last Saturday on the N-322 main road in the town of Torrevieja near Alicante.
Police only confirmed the arrest, thought
GARDAI were last night hunting the driver of a car involved in a hit and run accident that claimed the life of a pensioner who was out walking.
Kathleen Furlong, who was in her 80s, died after she was hit by the car in Tallaght, south Dublin at 11am yesterday. The driver failed to stop at the scene — but officers located the car shortly after.
There was no sign of the driver, however, and officers were searching for them last night.
Ms Furlong was pronounced dead at the scene. Sources say she was from the Kilclare area of Tallaght.
A Garda spokesman said yesterday: “Gardaí and emergency services attended the scene of a fatal road traffic collision in Tallaght, Dublin 24.
“The collision, involving a car and a pedestrian, occurred shortly to have occurred on Monday, yesterday as they revealed he had been in court on Monday and was released on bail pending further inquiries.
The unnamed man was held on suspicion of manslaughter and abandoning the scene of an accident and has been warned he could face more than four years before 11:00am at the junction of Fortunestown Way and Cheeverstown Road (R136).
“The pedestrian, a female in her 80s, was pronounced deceased at the scene.
“Her body has since been removed to the City Morgue at Whitehall where a post mortem will take place at a later stage.
Loss
“The car, which initially failed to remain at the scene, has since been identified and recovered by Gardaí and will be subject to a technical examination.
“The road is presently closed for an examination by Forensic Collision Investigators. Gardaí are appealing to anyone with information or who may have witnessed in prison and a lengthy driving ban if convicted.
A spokesman for the Civil Guard in Alicante yesterday said: “The 29-yearold Irish man police were hunting was eventually tracked down and arrested on suspicion of the crimes of manslaughter and abandoning the scene of an accident.” this collision to contact them.
“Any road users or pedestrians who may have camera footage (including dash-cam), and who were travelling on Fortunestown Way or Cheeverstown Road, [yesterday] morning between 10:30am and 11:15am, is asked to make this footage available to Gardaí.
“Anyone with any information is asked to contact Tallaght Garda Station on 01 666 6000, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station.”
Local Sinn Féin councillor Cathal Crowe last night told The Star that the lady’s death was heart breaking.
He said: “It’s always tragic to hear of a member of our community or any community dying in a such a tragic way but it seems even worse when it’s an elderly lady like this just going about her day — it’s heartbreaking.”
The parish priest said there has been a “constant stream of people coming all day” to pay tribute to the couple.
Local councillor Jim Moore, who is a cousin of Mary O’Reilly, said the community was in a state of “stunned silence”.
“I suppose the words ‘stunned’ and shocked’ don’t adequately cover the feelings that have developed when the family were informed of the double tragedy,” he told RTE Radio.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said that it was providing consular assistance.