BREAKING: Limerick gardai make breakthrough over assault that left dancer blind in one eye

GARDAI have made an arrest over an attack by a man wielding a bat on the outskirts of Limerick city.

Limerick-based street dancer Tobi Omoteso, well-known for hip-hop and break dancing, choreography and teaching, has been left blind in one eye after the violent incident

Gardai have issued an update this Tuesday on their investigation into the serious assault, which occurred in the Old Cratloe Road area of Limerick city on Saturday, March 28 at approximately 10.30am.

A garda spokesperson said they have arrested a male in relation to this investigation.

“The male, aged in his 20s, was conveyed to a garda station in County Limerick. He is currently being detained under the provisions of Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984.

“Investigations are ongoing,” said the garda spokesperson.

A Go Fund Me page was set up which has generated over €70,000 towards current and future medical expenses.

Mr Omoteso said, in a social media post,, that a man armed with a bat struck his car window which “exploded shards of glass, like tiny knives, and buried themselves deep into both of my eyes”. He said he faces “a long, agonising road of surgeries just to cling to a fraction of the vision I once took for granted”.

The performer said he has lost an eye which he can never get back but is reassured that with the people he has in his corner there “will be a way forward!”.

Mr Omoteso writes in the Go Fund Me appeal that March 28 is “the day the world went dark”.

He said as he tried to leave his estate, a man sat waiting in a car at the exit.

“He was parked carelessly, tyres on the footpath, trapping traffic and creating chaos in an already small space with road works. After a brief exchange of gesture, something snapped in him. He chose me.

“He tailed me through the streets of Limerick, chasing me toward a well-known roundabout where he finally forced his way in front of me, swerving to cut off any hope of escape. I watched, paralysed, as he stepped out of his vehicle wielding a wooden bat,” he claimed.

Mr Omoteso said the man began to beat his car with a bat.

“Then he struck and shattered the driver’s side window with the wooden bat which exploded shards of glass, like tiny knives, sprayed across my face and buried themselves deep into both of my eyes,” he claims.

The street dancer said he is now facing “a long, agonising road of surgeries just to cling to a fraction of the vision he once took for granted”.

“The damage is not just physical, it is permanent. My iris was sliced in half and had to be meticulously stitched back together. I am battling an onset cataract and a ruptured lens capsule, both of which must be surgically removed.

“I am currently facing the first of four major emergency operations. Even if every single procedure is a success, I will never see the world clearly again, which ultimately affects my job, work, dance, social interaction and confidence.”

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