By Josefine Ganko
A manhunt is under way for an arsonist who police allege was hired by gangsters to set fire to a Marrickville restaurant on two consecutive nights last month, using fireworks to ignite the blaze on his second visit.
CCTV footage from Tuohy Lane, off Illawarra Road near Marrickville Station, shows a masked man lighting a fire in the courtyard behind a restaurant on the night of May 29. Another man waits in a Kia sedan before driving the pair away from the scene.
Firefighters were called to the scene, quickly extinguishing the small fire within minutes.
A man in the same car and attire is shown returning alone the following night, this time armed with fireworks.
Police have released an image of a man who they believe may have information about the arsons.Credit: NSW Police
Shortly before 1am on May 30, the man appears to pour accelerant from a jerrycan throughout the restaurant’s courtyard and then lights a large blaze.
He then retrieves fireworks from his car, setting them alight and tossing them into the flames, causing a spectacular explosion.
Fire and Rescue NSW extinguished the blaze soon after. Both fires were put out quickly, before extensive damage could be done to the restaurant.
Police will allege the man is a “freelancer” who has carried out multiple arson attacks on the orders of gangsters.
“We believe that these people were recruited by organised criminal networks, and they freelance for organised criminal networks to do these acts,” Detective Superintendent Gordon Arbinja told a press conference on Thursday afternoon.
Police are appealing to the public for help locating a man who they allege is linked to both the Marrickville attacks and another firebombing on the Central Coast last year.
In the early hours of August 9, 2024, a fire was allegedly lit at a tobacconist on Memorial Avenue at Ettalong Beach.
The substantial blaze “totally destroyed” the building, said NSW Fire and Rescue Superintendent Adam Dewberry, with crews working on the blaze from 1.44am until it was extinguished about 4am.
“We believe that the tobacconist was targeted to eliminate competition,” Arbinja said, adding that police “suspect the tobacconist did provide illicit tobacco”.
The man in question is of Mediterranean or Middle Eastern appearance with black curly shoulder-length hair and glasses, with a medium build and about 185cm tall.
Police released an image of the man from a Central Coast service station around the time of the Ettalong arson, where he was seen driving a grey Toyota Hilux.
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