Gardaí are now investigating whether a teenager who died in a hit and run in Clare over the weekend was ‘deliberately knocked off his e-bike’, a local journalist has said.
On Friday evening, 16-year-old Bryan Lowe died after he was hit by a vehicle in Clonlara, close to the Clare-Limerick border. The car did not stop and Bryan was pronounced dead at the scene.
On Newstalk Breakfast, Ralph Riegel of the Irish Independent said Gardaí fear Bryan’s death might not have been an accident, as they assumed when they were called out.
“Initially it was treated as a straightforward hit and run, but there are now concerns that the circumstances in which Bryan was injured may have been slightly more sinister than initially feared,” he said.
“Bryan apparently had sent a text message in the immediate minutes preceding his [death], where he suffered fatal injuries, saying he thought he was being followed.
“Now, he was riding an e-bike and one of the theories that Gardaí are examining is whether or not there may have been an attempt to steal the e-bike from him before his death.
“And whether the circumstances in which he suffered critical injuries was directly related to that attempted theft.”
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At this point, the teenager’s death is still officially being treated as a fatal hit and run, with Gardaí remaining light lipped about the next stage of the investigation.
“There is a concern that Bryan may have deliberately been knocked off his e-bike or that he may have been trying to flee from people when the incident occurred, that he suffered these fatal injuries,” Mr Riegel said.
“It's obviously very distressing for the family and the Gardaí, at the moment, are keeping their cards very close to their chest in terms of the details of their investigation, but there's significant resources being devoted to this.”
On Sunday, Gardaí said they hope to speak to the driver of a silver/gold colour Skoda Octavia with a registration plate of 05-C-5982 in connection to Bryan’s death.
They are also keen to speak to any witnesses who were in the Cloonlara/Castleconnell area on Friday evening.
“The two things that they want to trace, they want to trace the movements of that vehicle in the hour or so before Bryan Lowe was fatally injured,” Mr Riegel said.
“They also want to try and determine precisely who was in that car in the hour or so before Bryan was injured because they believe that they may have critical information to offer in terms of their investigation.”
Anyone with any information has been asked to contact Henry Garda Station.
