{"id":580827,"date":"2026-08-02T21:41:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T21:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/580827\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T21:41:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T21:41:09","slug":"stolen-cars-torched-after-cross-border-spree-as-donegal-gardai-hunt-suspects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/580827\/","title":{"rendered":"Stolen cars torched after cross-border spree as Donegal gardai hunt suspects"},"content":{"rendered":"

A dramatic cross-border pursuit unfolded overnight after a stolen Audi Q7 was driven repeatedly across the border before being abandoned and set alight.<\/p>\n

The Audi, which was finally located this evening by the PSNI in the Mullennan Road area, was one of four vehicles stolen overnight in Derry city and Claudy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of the vehicles was later recovered burnt out in Burt and the PSNI believe the incidents are linked.<\/p>\n

A grey Jaguar XF stolen from the Cregglea area of Claudy was later recovered completely burnt out in Burt at around 2pm on Sunday after being located by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na.<\/p>\n

A black Audi Q7, also stolen from Claudy, was driven dangerously across the border multiple times while being pursued by both the PSNI and An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. The vehicle was eventually found burnt out on Mullennan Road, close to the border crossings at Carrigans and Killea, at around 6pm.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose on-board drove the Audi at high speeds with no thought for the safety of other road users,\u201d PSNI Superintendent Sinead McIldowney said.<\/p>\n

Two other vehicles were also stolen in Derry city. A silver Kia Venga taken from Mansfield Grove was last seen heading towards Dungiven at around 1am, while a silver BMW 320D stolen during a burglary in Clon Elagh was tracked travelling towards Buncrana at around 3.30am.<\/p>\n

Police are also investigating whether an attempted theft of two more vehicles in the Beech Hill View area of Drumahoe is connected.<\/p>\n

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Superintendent McIldowney condemned those responsible, saying: \u201cI want to speak directly to those involved in this treacherous activity – this needs to stop, before you kill yourself or an innocent member of the public. Our officers continue to actively search for you, and we can assure the local community that, once located, we will rigorously pursue criminal justice outcomes for these offenders.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would also take this opportunity to remind vehicle owners that it is important that you ensure you are doing all you can to keep your vehicle safe. Please make sure you lock the windows and doors to your home before you go to bed, and keep your vehicles locked at all times.\u201d<\/p>\n

Superintendent McIldowney said the investigation, and the attempt to locate the vehicles, is continuing.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cWe\u2019re particularly keen to hear from anyone who may have relevant dashcam, CCTV or doorbell footage.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A dramatic cross-border pursuit unfolded overnight after a stolen Audi Q7 was driven repeatedly across the border before…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":580828,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-580827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=580827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/580828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=580827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=580827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=580827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}