A series of incidents in a matter of hours in Melbourne’s Greek neighbourhood of Oakleigh have caused chaos. A shop was set on fire – with damage to nearby businesses – a car injured a pedestrian and a protesting refugee was taken to hospital after suffering a heart attack.
A burning car appears to have been used to set fire to a tobacconist’s shop on Station St in Oakleigh. A probe into a string of arson attacks on tobacco shops in Melbourne has deepened after another business was destroyed at a popular entertainment district.For the second time in as many weeks, a building on Station Street in Oakleigh was engulfed in flames after a car was driven into a tobacco shop and set alight at about 2am on Thursday.
The business was destroyed while a restaurant and empty shopfront located in the same building was badly impacted. No one was inside at the time.
Earlier this month, the same tobacco shop was damaged when the empty shopfront next door was purposefully set alight.
The investigation into the most recent blaze is ongoing and police believe it’s connected to a series of arson attacks linked to the illicit tobacco trade in Victoria.
Detective Acting Inspector Mark Kennedy says police know who the main players are in the syndicates involved.
“Make no mistake, these criminal syndicates and their associated offending linked to illicit tobacco has the complete attention of police and we will do everything we can to bring this to an end and hold those responsible to account,” he said.
Four people were arrested last month and previously police said it was crucial that tobacco store owners and staff co-operate with the investigation before innocent people were killed or seriously hurt.
Anyone with CCTV or dashcam footage of the Oakleigh incident has been asked to contact investigators.
Refugee in protest suffers heart attack
The chaos in Oakleigh centre continued after as a refugee had a heart attack in the ongoing asylum seeker protest at the office of MP and Home Secretary, Clare O’Neil.
It is understood that dozens of Iranian and some Afghan asylum seekers have been protesting since last Monday, September 18, calling for a resolution to their visa status.
On the first day of the mobilization, the refugees even held a brief occupation of the federal minister’s office.
An ambulance was called, whose crew provided first aid and then took the refugee to a hospital.
Runaway car injures pedestrians
In another incident, a car almost drove into a shop, but eventually crashed into a passing pedestrian at the corner of Eaton Mall where the Bank of Sydney is located, opposite the well-known Nikos Confectionery.
According to reports, the driver instead of applying the brakes hit the accelerator, striking the passing woman, whose identity has not been released.
Locals said they were outraged that the sidewalks in the area do not have bollards.
