Gardaí are searching for a gang of car thieves who chased and rammed a food delivery driver and left him with serious leg injuries in Cork late on Thursday night.
The 23-year-old Brazilian man was allegedly chased by the car thieves from Mahon to Beaumont on the city’s southside before their car hit him on Woodvale Road at about midnight.
They then drove off, leaving the victim lying trapped under his motorbike with serious compound fractures to his leg.
Locals heard the crash and found the man conscious but in extreme pain in the street. They alerted the emergency services.
An Irishwoman sailing around the world: ‘This paradise has just seven residents and two dogs’
Tailbacks from Forty Foot stretch for miles as Christmas swimmers descend
‘What has you here?’: Eight years dead and safe in a Galway graveyard, yet here Grandad was standing before me
Róisín Ingle: My profound, challenging, surprisingly joyful, life-changing year
Paramedics and five units of Cork City Fire Service attended the scene and stabilised the man before he was taken by ambulance to Cork University Hospital.
Gardaí removed the damaged motorbike for a forensic examination and will begin door-to-door inquiries on Friday.
It is understood the man told gardaí at the scene that he had an earlier interaction with the occupants of the car in the Mahon area and that they had pursued him from there to Beaumont, a distance of about 2km.
Officers believe the car was a Skoda Kodiaq which was stolen from a house in Courtbrack near Blarneyon October 21st.
The stolen car later rammed a Garda car at 2am on the Old Mallow Road on the northside of the city, about 8km from the scene of the hit and run.
Two gardaí in the Garda car were treated for minor injuries at the scene. .
The gang fled in the direction of north Cork. They were encountered by an off-duty garda near Bottle Hill but evaded capture.
Gardaí have appealed to anyone who witnessed anything suspicious in the Mahon, Beaumont and Old Mallow Road areas to contact them at Anglesea Street Garda station on 021-4522000.
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis
