Two men were arrested after a businesswoman was assaulted as her car was hijacked in Co Longford.
The woman, who is in her 40s, was released from hospital after an ordeal during which she was attacked, threatened and bundled into her own car, before being driven at speed by her attackers as they attempted to evade gardaí.
The dramatic sequence of events began just before 6pm on Wednesday as the woman returned to her car at the car park on Ballymahon Street in Longford.
She was approached by two men who threatened her at knifepoint before forcing her to the ground. The woman was then bundled into the back of her Mercedes car and driven away from the car park at speed.
Minutes earlier, two men had been spotted acting suspiciously in the centre of the town and gardaí at Longford station began tracking them on CCTV.
Garda pursuit
Gardaí pursued the car and twice attempted to get it to stop. The Garda car was then rammed and the attackers sped off along the Athlone Road. The car span out of control, left the road and struck a ditch.
The driver was injured, but the second attacker fled the scene on foot.
Gardaí arrested the driver at the scene and rescued the woman. The driver, who is in his 20s, had broken his arm in the collision and was taken by ambulance to Tullamore Hospital.
Members of the Regional Support Unit were summoned and, following a short search, the second attacker, also in his 20s, was arrested.