TWO elderly German tourists were left traumatised after thieves hijacked their car when they stopped at the scene of a crash.
The fourth carjacking incident in the past 11 days sparked concern about a spate of copycat crimes, although gardai are satisfied they are not connected.
The German couple were driving a black Mercedes C180 car with German registration plates when they spotted a traffic accident at Clara Vale in Rathdrum, Co Wicklow, yesterday afternoon.
A Volvo car had crashed into a bus. Some of the occupants of the Volvo flagged down the Germans and forced them from the car.
The female passenger in the Mercedes received minor injuries as she was being rushed out of the vehicle.
Gardai later established that the Volvo had been used following a burglary in the Athy area.
Shortly afterwards, the stolen Mercedes was located in Tullow, Co Carlow, and forensic investigators were called in.
Gardai believe the four men may be members of a travelling gang, who have carried out a spate of burglaries across Leinster.
Meanwhile, a serial criminal has been questioned by gardai about a separate car hijacking in which a female motorist and two children were held captive and robbed. The suspect, who is from west Dublin, was arrested in Tipperary and taken to Terenure garda station in Dublin.
He was questioned about the incident in which the woman was threatened with what she believed to be a gun, and forced to hand over more than €500 after making a withdrawal from an ATM machine on Friday afternoon.
The suspect, in his 40s, is well known to gardai and has served a jail sentence for two bank robberies as well as possession of a firearm, stealing cars, hijacking a car and escaping from custody.
Robbery
The man has also spent time in prison in the UK after being convicted of robbery.
The incident took place as the woman was driving with her eight-year-old son and his nine-year-old friend.
She stopped her grey BMW estate at the junction of Zion Road and Orwell Road in Terenure and had left a window open.
A man ran over to the vehicle, popped the lock on the door and jumped into the car.
Irish Independent
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