Donny Dimitriou allegedly threatens to light fire at Caltex Mill Park
An enraged man who allegedly poured petrol on the ground before holding a lighter to it, screaming he would set a stranger on fire, could have killed multiple people at a Mill Park servo, police say. Now, he wants to be allowed to walk free on bail.
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A man allegedly threatened to set a stranger on fire as he held a lighter to a pool of petrol at a Mill Park service station.
He has been refused bail for a second time, with a magistrate finding Donny Dimitriou to be an unacceptable risk of endangering the public even with strict bail conditions and $5000 surety.
The 43-year-old fronted Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, September 30, accused of multiple unprovoked attacks on members of the public.
Police allege he put multiple people at risk of serious injury or death on June 25 when he had an outburst at Caltex Mill Park about 3pm, which was caught on CCTV.
He allegedly punched the petrol bowser, yelled and threw a bottle at the store before a woman drove up to a nearby bowser.
Dimitriou allegedly then yelled at the woman as she sat in her car and used a petrol pump to squirt petrol onto the ground behind his car.
While still holding the pump, he allegedly pulled a lighter from his pocket and made hand motions to try to light it.
Dimitriou allegedly leant down to the petrol pool with the lighter while still yelling at the woman, threatening to light her on fire.
He allegedly then put the pump back on the hook and went into the store.
Dimitriou had allegedly attacked an elderly woman’s home on April 2, with that incident also caught on CCTV.
The woman allegedly heard Dimitriou yelling and throwing rocks against her fence about 6.40pm before a rock smashed her bedroom window.
He was already on bail for three charges of assaulting a police officer, recklessly causing injury, discharging a missile and criminal damage.
The court heard Dimitriou suffered ongoing mental health issues, which he chose not to seek treatment for.
Lawyer Nick Marcevski pushed for his client to be bailed, proposing he be supervised by a psychologist and $5000 surety from Dimitriou’s father.
He said Dimitriou had worked in his family business for 23 years and could spend too long waiting in custody for charges to resolve.
Magistrate Denise Livingstone said she was dealing with “really alarming allegations”.
“It is only really the intervention of witnesses that seems to avert more serious risk to safety,” she said.
Considering the allegations, Ms Livingstone said she didn’t think Dimitriou was at risk of spending too long in custody having been behind bars for 61 days so far.
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