Gardaí investigating the death of a man in a hit-and-run in north Co Dublin believe his killing is linked to a feud between two rival factions.
While the Garda has described the death of the victim, in Balbriggan, as a hit-and-run, it is being treated as a targeted attack.
The dead man, Mircea Rostas, was in his 30s and was a member of a Roma community whose family had come to live in Ireland some time ago. Gardaí investigating his death quickly identified a suspect and arrested that man, who is in his 40s, on Tuesday afternoon.
Video footage of the victim at the scene has been published on social media, resulting in an appeal by the Garda to members of the public to refrain from sharing the images.
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The arrested man was known to Mr Rostas and was being detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act at a Garda station in north Dublin. He can be questioned for up to 24 hours without charge.
After Mr Rostas was fatally struck on Railway St at about 9pm on Monday, a second incident occurred, with the driver of one vehicle ramming another car and causing significant damage. Those two incidents were then followed by an on-street fight between two groups, some of whom appeared to be armed with weapons.
The Garda investigation team at Balbriggan station have appealed to witnesses to come forward. Detectives are keen to track movements of a black saloon car in the area at the time. It was abandoned after a collision with another vehicle on Drogheda St shortly after Mr Rostas was killed.
Garda sources said the chain of events on Monday night represented a major public order incident and has led to fears that tensions between rival groups in the area will lead to further violence.
A major Garda operation was put in place on Monday evening in a bid to seal off several crime scenes and gather evidence related to the fatal hit and run and from the other vehicles that crashed in the area.
A team of gardaí, including those with public order unit training, also took up position in the town to deter any further violence. The Irish Times understands that other than the man who was killed, there were no serious injuries.
While the emergency services were called when the fatal crash occurred and Mr Rostas was treated by paramedics, he was pronounced dead at the scene. The area was sealed off overnight and the victim’s remains left in situ before a preliminary examination was carried out there by a pathologist early on Tuesday.
The dead man’s remains were taken from the scene and a postmortem was carried out by the Office of the State Pathologist at Dublin City Mortuary
“A preliminary report has been furnished to the investigation team, specific details are not being released at this time for operational reasons,” the Garda said. “The scene has been fully examined by the Garda Technical Bureau and Garda Forensic Collision Investigators. The road has since reopened to traffic.”
An incident room has been established at Balbriggan Garda station and a senior investigating officer has been appointed, with a Garda family liaison officer also assigned to support the victim’s family.
Gardaí are appealing to anyone who was in the area, especially motorists recording dashcam footage, in the Railway St and Drogheda St areas of Balbriggan between 8:30pm and 9:30pm to come forward.
