Following this morning’s attempted ram raid and fire attack in Melbourne, a tobacconist has suffered some destruction.
Around 2:15 in the morning, a motorist on South Melbourne’s Clarendon Street reversed into the storefront. The would-be arsonists failed to light a fire and instead left behind a jerry can.
Authorities think the perpetrator is probably hurt and may have put themself on fire while attempting to set the store on fire. One person who saw the scene said, “It’s really, really scary.”
“You hear about it all the time but it’s different when it’s so close.”
The fire is being investigated by police as suspicious and targeted. It happened a few days after the second firebombing of a Hadfield tobacco shop in as many months.
Investigators are looking into if this event is connected to a string of arson assaults that have been directed at tobacco shops around the state.
Today, arson investigators visited the site of the crime. The police are pleading for anyone who may have witnessed unusual activity in the vicinity or who may have information to come forward.
Since March, there have been around thirty arson attacks throughout the state.
As rival criminal organizations fight for control of the illegal tobacco trade, some outlets have been targeted repeatedly, trapping innocent companies in the process.
The Victorian government has acknowledged that more needs to be done to tighten its policies regarding the sale of tobacco products.
Taskforce Luna of Victoria Police has been looking into the series of events connected to the tobacco war, and several people have been taken into custody as a result.
