Dee Why Bowlo truck fire: Bailey Chapman, 21, torched truck for friend in $50k insurance rort
A man used a jerry can of petrol to torch a truck in the car park of a popular club to help a friend as part of a brazen insurance rort, a Sydney court’s been told.
Manly
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A man used a jerry can full of petrol to torch a friend’s tipper truck in the car park of a popular northern beaches club as part of an alleged $50,000 insurance rort.
Bailey Chapman, 21, wearing a face covering, lit the blaze under the Mitsubishi Fuso Canter outside the Dee Why Bowling Club late on April 2, 2023, after discussions with one of the truck’s female owners.
A day later, an insurance claim for $48,830 was allegedly lodged by a woman, who part-owned the truck, Manly Local Court heard on Wednesday.
The truck, owned by a couple, was used in a rubbish collection business based on the northern beaches.
Chapman, who is in custody, has pleaded guilty to one count of intentionally damage property by fire.
A woman, 38, is before the courts after being charged in October last year with one count of dishonesty for gain, damage property by fire.
The other owner of the truck is not charged with any wrongdoing.
The two arrests came after police released CCTV footage of the fire in September, 2024, along with a request for people with information to come forward.
In court documents, police alleged that Chapman destroyed the truck after an “agreement” with the female owner and that the “motivation was for financial gain”.
Chapman, who now lives at Mortons Creek, about 25kms west of Port Macquarie, went to the bowling club with the truck’s owners at 11am on April 2, 2023, according to a police facts sheet tendered in court.
The group left the club at 4.20pm and met two other people in the car park before they all went back to the truck owners’ home.
Police stated that Chapman took a jerry can from the owners’ garage and travelled in a car, to a nearby Shell service station and filled the can with petrol at 8.39pm. He wore a covering over his face when he paid for the fuel, police stated.
He was dropped off outside the club at 8.45pm where he made a call to a mobile phone allegedly used by the truck’s female owner. Chapman made another all at 9.14pm to the same phone.
“At 9.52pm (Chapman) ignited an object in his hand before throwing it under the vehicle,” according to the facts sheet.
“The vehicle immediately caught fire (before) Chapman ran south, along Fisher Rd North”.
Police alleged that within minutes of the fire starting, Chapman began making several calls and one text message to the truck’s female owner. She lodged the insurance claim the next day, April 3. No insurance payout has been made.
Chapman will be sentenced in Manly court on April 23.
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