22 hours ago
2
A man accused of setting fire to a rabbi’s car in St Kilda was allegedly on a crime spree at the time and is charged with burning several other cars, stealing hundreds of tubes of toothpaste and breaking into a Middle Eastern restaurant.
John Argento, from Richmond, faced Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday after being charged with six counts of arson, which included the alleged firebombing of a car bearing a Hanukkah sign outside a rabbi’s home on Christmas morning.
Firefighters at the scene of the car fire in St Kilda East early on Christmas Day.Credit: Nine News
The rabbi’s silver sedan – adorned with a “Happy Chanukah” sign – was destroyed in the incident about 3am on Christmas Day, forcing his family to flee their St Kilda East home.
At the time, politicians and community leaders labelled the arson attack – which happened 11 days after the terror attack on a Hanukkah event in Bondi – antisemitic.
Loading
According to charge sheets released to this masthead on Thursday, Argento is also accused of setting fire to several other vehicles, including a car in Caulfield North on Christmas Eve and another three cars in Elsternwick, over a more than month-long crime spree.
The three Elsternwick cars include a Lexus Wagon valued at $45,000 and a silver BMW valued at $50,000, police say.
The 47-year-old has also been charged over an arson attack on a car in McKinnon, a suburb about 12 kilometres south-east of Melbourne’s CBD, on November 13. No one was injured in any of the arson attacks.
Argento is also facing charges of theft from shops, obtaining property by deception and attempting to steal from cars.
Argento is facing a total of 20 criminal charges, including allegations he stole 144 tubes of Sensodyne toothpaste from a Coles supermarket in Kew valued at more than $1623 on November 21.
Police allege he returned to a Coles supermarket in the same suburb on December 20 and stole another 96 units of the same branded toothpaste valued at more than $1200. Ten days later, he visited Coles again and allegedly stole more than $800 worth of dental hygiene products.
Loading
Argento has also been charged with stealing almost $700 worth of meat and milk from a supermarket in Toorak and for a break-in at a Middle Eastern restaurant in Elsternwick, where he is accused of stealing $4000.
He is accused of stealing a wallet and using a credit card from it to purchase cigarettes from a service station and for stealing almost $80 of food from a McDonald’s restaurant.
The court heard on Thursday that Argento has several mental health conditions, including bipolar and schizophrenia.
He did not apply for bail and will return to court on February 1.
The firebombing of the rabbi’s car occurred in an area with a significant Jewish population and followed the terror attack on a Bondi Hanukkah event, as well as arson attacks at the Adass Israel synagogue in December 2024 and the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation in 2025.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
Most Viewed in National
Loading
