A suspect in the arson of a Melbourne vehicle with a Hanukkah billboard was arrested by the Victoria Police on Tuesday, law enforcement announced.
Suspect John Argento was arrested on a Richmond street without incident following the identification of the 47-year-old as a person of interest a day after the December 25 fire.
Argento was charged with six counts of arson, six counts of theft, two counts of attempted theft from a vehicle, one count of theft from a vehicle, three counts of obtaining property by deception, burglary, and theft. He was set to appear before the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.
Police had previously described Argento as a man believed to be living a “transient lifestyle” in the inner southern and northern suburbs of Melbourne.
Suspect in arson had outstanding warrant
Argento was known to the police, having an outstanding warrant for deception-related offenses. He was also wanted for breaching another vehicle several minutes prior to the arson.
No one was inside the vehicle when it was set ablaze, but a woman and three children were evacuated from the residence as a precaution.
The incident has raised fear among the Australian Jewish community, following in the heels of the December 14 Bondi Beach massacre.
“This is a continuation of the daily fear the Jewish community has had to live in for the past two years, and even more so after Bondi,” The Jewish Community Council of Victoria said in a statement in the aftermath of the arson.
The incident drew widespread condemnation from Australian politicians, including Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
“Australia’s Jewish community is in mourning after the Bondi terrorist attack. The firebombing of a car in Melbourne is another terrible act of suspected antisemitism,” Albanese had said on X/Twitter. “There is no place in Australia for this kind of hatred, and it has to stop.”
The arson inflamed tensions about Australian political responses to antisemitic attacks, with Jewish groups continuing into the new year with requests for a Royal Commission into antisemitism in the country.