Large handbag woman causes havoc in town centre as gardai attend scene
A woman was arrested after she attacked shoppers with a large handbag, lay on a road for 15 minutes and brought a town to gridlock.
The incident happened in Drogheda at around 7pm on Friday as locals were out enjoying the glorious evening sunshine.
Eyewitnesses said the woman just went berserk on West Street and appeared to knock a tray of drinks out of a waiter's hand as he was bringing an order to customers outside a local restaurant.
One man said: "She then started running down the street whacking people she passed by with her handbag for no reason whatsoever. Many shoppers seeing what was going on ran away to the other side of the road for safety.
"She proceeded to lay on the ground at a junction between West Street, Duke Street and Stockwell Street and drivers could not move for at least 15 to 20 minutes.
"The whole town effectively became gridlocked. Some drivers got really angry and tried to move her but every time they did, she kept running back to lie on the ground. She literally caused chaos for no reason whatsoever. People were shocked by her behaviour."
Gardai arrived on the scene and had to drive up a one way street to arrest the woman. The woman was then taken into custody and taken away to Drogheda Garda Station.
The eyewitness added: "I never seen anything like it before. We were all out having a good time and this woman just caused chaos. She frightened a lot of people by her behaviour. It took at least another half or so before the traffic started moving and the town centre got back to normal."
Gardai in a statement said they responded to a report of a public order incident at West Street, Drogheda after 7pm on Friday, May 30.
A female in her 30s was arrested under the Public Order Act and detained at a Garda station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984. She has since been charged and is due to appear before Drogheda District Court at a later date.
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