Armed gardaí were scrambled to a housing estate in south Co Dublin on Saturday night after an attempted drugs search escalated into a serious public order incident.

A Garda was beaten with a metal baseball bat during the incident on Ballyogan Avenue in Dublin 18, which is believed to have been recorded using mobile phones.

The Irish Times understand the injured garda suffered broken bones in his hand and a source said he also had been left with “extreme swelling” to his face. His head and shoulder were also badly bruised, with scans being carried out to determine the full extent of his injuries.

The incident unfolded over a five-hour period into the early hours of this morning. During that period a late-night court sitting was convened so gardaí could go back to the scene with full search powers to find the suspects.

A man in his 50s was taken into Garda custody and questioned on Sunday morning.

He was held at Dún Laoghaire Garda station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act before being released his evening. A file has been sent to the DPP.

The Garda member attacked by the suspect armed with the baseball bat was taken from the scene to Tallaght Hospital.

Drugs search

The incident began at about 7.30pm when two gardaí, one male and one female, attempted to search a man for drugs.

The suspect fled and ran into a nearby house on Ballyogan Avenue. However, when gardaí tried to pursue him into the property, the front door was slammed shut.

A man in his 50s, along with two teenagers, then came out of the house with the older man armed with a baseball bat. He set about attacking the male garda, hitting him repeatedly with the metal baseball bat to the face, body and head.

As that was under way, a large number people began to gather outside the property. The two gardaí on the scene found themselves surrounded and deployed their batons and incapacitant sprays.

Reinforcements arrived but the gardaí still found themselves significantly outnumbered. Garda sources said there was a concern that the situation was about to escalate sharply, so they decided to withdraw and regroup ahead of a follow-up operation.

Search warrant

Gardaí then went before a special sitting of Dublin District Court just after 11pm at which a search warrant was granted. Members of the force, backed up by armed officers, then went back to the house on Ballyogan Avenue to search it.

While the search was carried out, a number of men in the house were subdued by gardaí as the man suspected of carrying out the assault was arrested.

One of the armed gardaí was bitten by a dog during the search and also required medical treatment.

A baseball bat, believed to be the one used during the assault on the garda, was confiscated, along with a number of mobile phones that gardaí suspect may contain photographs and videos of the assault.