A PSNI officer was injured in a hit-and-run attack during a routine investigation into an earlier ATM theft.
Earlier today, an ATM was found by gardaí investigating the theft of a cash machine that was ripped from a service station in Co Down with a stolen digger.
One man in his 20s was arrested in Co Monaghan, while two others fled the scene.
The machine was stolen from the filling station on the Camlough Road near Newry in the early hours of this morning.
Gardaí carried out searches in the Carrickmacross area, where they found three men in a white Ford Transit type van.
All three fled on foot, but one man was detained near the scene a short time later. An ATM was found inside the van.
The search for the other two men is continuing.
This afternoon, a PSNI officer was pinned between a truck and his patrol car in a hit-and-run attack detectives are treating as attempted murder.
The officer sustained serious head injuries when the low-loader truck drove into him at speed as he approached the vehicle on foot in Co Armagh.
The police patrol investigating the ATM theft in the nearby Newry area had been driving down a single lane country road near the village of Cullyhanna when they encountered the truck coming in the other direction around lunch time.
Officers believed the truck was suspicious, so the officer got out and approached the driver.
Police said, at that point the truck driver drove toward him and rammed him into the parked patrol car.
The injured officer was treated at the scene and then airlifted to hospital in Belfast. His injuries, while serious, are not believed to be life threatening.
Police Service of Northern Ireland Superintendent Simon Walls described what happened during the incident on the Mullaghduff Road.
"As one of the officers exited the police vehicle to speak to the driver, the lorry was driven at speed directly at the officer, striking him and pinning him between the lorry and a police patrol vehicle," he said.
"The lorry then fled the scene. The officer's colleagues rushed to help him, providing emergency first aid. The PSNI helicopter was then used to transport the officer to hospital in Belfast."
He added: "From the accounts of those at the scene, this appears to have been a deliberate act and as such we will be treating this incident as the attempted murder of a police officer."
The lorry is described as having a white cab, a yellow bumper, a red low-loader body and was carrying a white or silver vehicle.
Police appealed for witnesses to come forward.
