(1) Every person who, without the consent of the owner or the person in charge of a mechanically propelled vehicle and without other lawful authority or reasonable cause interferes or attempts to interfere in any way with the mechanism of such vehicle while it is stationary in a public place or gets on or into or attempts to get on or into such vehicle while it is so stationary shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to a fine not exceeding twenty pounds.
(2) A member of the Gárda Síochána taking steps in pursuance of this Act for the temporary disposition of a mechanically propelled vehicle shall be deemed for the purposes of this section to be the person in charge of such vehicle.
(3) Any member of the Gárda Síochána may arrest without warrant any person whom he reasonably suspects to be engaged in committing an offence under this section.
(4) This section shall not apply to a person taking, in relation to a mechan