A man accused of setting fire to a rabbi’s car in St Kilda was allegedly on a crime spree at the time and is charged with burning several other cars, stealing hundreds of tubes of toothpaste and breaking into a Middle Eastern restaurant.
John Argento, from Richmond, faced Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday after being charged with six counts of arson, which included the alleged firebombing of a car bearing a Hanukkah sign outside a rabbi’s home on Christmas morning.
Firefighters at the scene of the car fire in St Kilda East early on Christmas Day.Credit: Nine News
The rabbi’s silver sedan – adorned with a “Happy Chanukah” sign – was destroyed in the incident about 3am on Christmas Day, forcing his family to flee their St Kilda East home.
At the time, politicians and community leaders labelled the arson attack – which happened 11 days after the terror attack on a Hanukkah event in Bondi – antisemitic.
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According to charge sheets released to this masthead on Thursday, Argento is also accused of setting fire to several other vehicles, including a car in Caulfield North on Christmas Eve and another three cars in Elsternwick, over a more than month-long crime spree.
The three Elsternwick cars include a Lexus Wagon valued at $45,000 and a silver BMW valued at $50,000, police say.
The 47-year-old has also been charged over an arson attack on a car in McKinnon, a suburb about 12 kilometres south-east of Melbourne’s CBD, on November 13. No one was injured in any of the arson attacks.
Argento is also facing charges of theft from shops, obtaining property by deception and attempting to steal from cars.
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