Man charged over arson attack on rabbi’s car on Christmas Day

A man accused of firebombing a rabbi’s car in Melbourne’s inner south on Christmas Day has claimed he is innocent, after he faced court charged with 20 offences, including six of arson.

John Argento, 47, of Richmond appeared briefly before a Melbourne judge on Tuesday evening, following his arrest that morning in relation to the arson attack.

A silver sedan that had a “Happy Chanukah” sign on its roof was set alight about 2.50am on December 25 while parked in the driveway of the rabbi’s home in Balaclava Road, St Kilda East, in the heart of Melbourne’s Jewish community.

The rabbi’s wife and three children were evacuated at the time as a precaution. There was no one in the car at the time of the fire.

Detectives arrested Argento in Victoria Street, Richmond, about 9am on Tuesday.

After interviewing Argento, police charged him with 20 offences, including six counts of arson, six counts of theft and three counts of obtaining property by deception. It is not yet known whether all the charges relate to the Christmas Day incident.

The court heard Argento’s usual lawyers were unavailable for the hearing, and Magistrate Olivia Trumble adjourned proceedings until Thursday for this reason.

Argento appeared via video link from custody. During the brief hearing he often had his head in his hands.

At one point he interjected: “I’m innocent of this arson. There’s no evidence on me. I was charged last year with the same thing.”

“It’s not in your interest to speak over the link – there’s many people on this link that can hear you,” Trumble replied, in a reference to the media in attendance. “Your lawyers would not advise you to do that.”

The court also heard that an email from Argento’s lawyers indicated he is Indigenous, has diagnoses of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, and receives methadone injections. Trumble said Argento would be seen by a nurse as soon as possible.

“No such thing, I’m on a methadone program,” Argento interjected. He later confirmed he was normally on medication for schizophrenia.

The charges come less than two weeks after police revealed they believed Argento was involved in the arson attack but could not say if the fire was antisemitic in nature.

Assistant Commissioner Chris Gilbert confirmed the man detectives arrested was the same person they had been looking for. On Boxing Day, police identified Argento as “a person who may be able to assist with their investigation” and appealed for him to contact police.

On Tuesday afternoon, prior to charges being laid, Gilbert said police were “working through now a number of offences that we will allege that that man has been involved in,” he said. “I understand people’s concerns … about the motivation for that.”

The firebombing occurred 11 days after two gunmen targeted a Hanukkah festival at Bondi Beach and killed 15 people.

Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights, ended on December 22.

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