Coked-up driver arrested after driving wrong way up street before trying to flee on foot

“At approximately 8.20pm last night a car was detected traveling more than 50km in excess of the speed limit at Newtownmountkennedy,” Wicklow Superintendent Declan McCarthy said.

“The driver failed to stop when indicated by gardai to do so. A chase commenced, which ended on Arklow Main Street, when the driver’s vehicle collided with two civilian cars, just opposite the Parade Grounds.

It appears that the driver, who entered Arklow via the Dublin Road entrance, drove up Main Street – which has been operating a one way system due to ongoing road works – going the wrong way.

“When the vehicle came to a stop, the driver exited the vehicle and fled on foot,” Superintendent McCarthy continued. “He was subsequently arrested, practically immediately, on the Main Street.”

“The driver was arrested and subsequently tested positive for cocaine. The driver has been charged with numerous counts of dangerous driving, and had no valid insurance at the time of the arrest.”

There were a substantial number of reports from local sources that a garda helicopter was dispatched to help apprehend the speeding driver.

Whether it was dispatched specifically in connection with the pursuit could not be verified by the gardai at this time. However, the Superintendent did add “if there were a large number of reports of a helicopter in the air, it’s quite likely and choppers would respond to calls like that very regularly.”

The driver is due before Arklow District Court on October 19.