A man is being treated for serious injuries in hospital following an aggravated burglary at an apartment complex in Co Longford.
The incident happened at the Courtyard complex in the village of Newtownforbes, near Longford town yesterday afternoon.
It is understood a number of men broke into an apartment at the complex. After gaining entry, they were confronted by a 28-year-old man and a violent altercation took place.
The man was seriously beaten and the raiders fled the scene before he could raise the alarm. He was rushed to Mullingar General Hospital with what gardai described as "serious injuries".
A car involved in a crash at a roundabout near Longford about 15 minutes later is now forming part of the Garda investigation.
A man who was in the car was arrested at the scene on suspicion of drink-driving. He was taken to Longford Garda station for questioning but was later released.
Longford gardai are separately investigating an incident in Ballymahon in which a member of staff at a bar was bitten in the face. The assault happened as a man was being ejected from the premises.
A second person was also assaulted in the incident which happened late last night. A man was arrested at the scene and taken to Longford Garda station for questioning.