Melbourne food truck belonging to controversial YouTuber Spanian damaged in arson attack

Filmmaker and former career criminal Spanian has taunted those responsible for torching his Preston food truck overnight and vowed to reopen as soon as this weekend.

A controversial filmmaker and former career criminal laughed off an arson hit that targeted his new food truck in Melbourne’s north.

Emergency crews rushed to the Spanian Kebabs truck on Bell St in Preston following reports a flammable liquid was used to set it alight about 4am Saturday.

The kebab truck suffered minor damage but had only been shifted into the Preston site in early May after a massive response from the owner’s fans for its opening night.

It is owned by former career criminal ‘Spanian’ who has since turned to both the food and filmmaking industries.

The arson job on his truck is of significant interest given his recent movement into the Melbourne market.

Spanian, whose real name is Anthony Lees, is a high-profile YouTuber who spent more than a decade in prison in NSW for a series of violent crimes.

He has since carved out a successful online career and has other food trucks in Sydney.

Spanian on Saturday told his 1.1m strong Instagram and Facebook audience he hoped to reopen as soon as this weekend.

He said the damage was minor and only impacted those who owned the actual truck, not the business.

YouTube star Anthony Lees, better known as Spanian. Picture: YouTube

The food truck was parked in Preston. Picture: Tony Gough

Police investigate the crime scene. Picture: Tony Gough

They burnt the front wall, but it’s not an issue, there’s another truck already on the way,” he said in response to the blaze.

“We’ve got a factory of trucks, we’ll get this one rewrapped.

“The owners of the trucks are people from your community, I just want to get that out there.

“The trucks are part of your community, and those people from your community save up for these trucks and they have to pay for it. They’re your people.”

He then taunted those who may have been responsible and laughed off the arson job.

“I thought Spanian Kebabs were shit?! Guess whose kebabs they’re trying to burn down?,” he added.

“Guess who’s got the best kebabs in Australia? Melbourne will be back open soon.”

Spanian spent time in a youth jail in NSW over a school siege and a ram raid on an ATM before turning to more dangerous offending.

He was, in the early 2000s, charged over an armed robbery before the case was dropped.

He then served more than a year in jail over a wild police pursuit and was in 2009 charged with attempted murder.

Lees pleaded to a lesser charge and spent another three years in a Bathurst prison.

Upon his release, Lees then ran a drug distribution ring in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

It came unstuck in the early 2010s when he was hit with serious drug charges.

Lees was again sent to jail before his release in 2017.

A nearby resident said he was woken by male voices at the time of the fire. Picture: Tony Gough

Spanian visited Melton in Melbourne’s west with his Into the Hood YouTube series. Picture: YouTube

Forensic investigators at the scene of the fire on Saturday. Picture: Tony Gough

In the years after his latest release, he began rapping and making short YouTube films, which described life on the inside.

He also published a book detailing those experiences which kicked off his online stardom.

Spanian now boasts more than 850,000 followers on his main Instagram account with 22,000 fans on a secondary account.

His YouTube account has amassed an enormous one million subscribers in which his videos are viewed up to two million times.

He often visits disadvantaged, rough and poor towns and suburbs across the country in short films documenting life on the streets.

The ‘Into the Hood’ series has taken the online star to Dandenong, Melton, North and South Melbourne.

Local residents in Preston say they had noticed a spike in “antisocial behaviour” in the area since the kebab truck opened.

One nearby neighbour said the normally quiet street has been polluted by noise.

“The local residents haven’t been too happy because it’s been a magnet for people from all over Melbourne who haven’t really been respecting the community,” a neighbour said.

“People have been revving their V8 engines and super bikes really loudly at all hours and leaving rubbish over the place.”

A neighbour told the Sunday Herald Sun he was woken by male voices in the car park below his property.

“I just got woken up with some bangs… and people talking ” he said.

The arson attempt remains under police investigation.

Originally published as Melbourne food truck belonging to controversial YouTuber Spanian damaged in arson attack