Melbourne businessman, life coach and former boxer David Deicke.
The arson attack on the Laverton business follows a separate firebombing just 24 hours earlier at another of Deicke’s businesses on Ormond Road in Elwood.
Fire crews started fighting the fire about 3.35am on Thursday, taking nearly 40 minutes to bring it under control. Police believe the offenders used a vehicle to force entry before fleeing. That fire is also being treated as suspicious.
The Elwood business, which had recently closed down, had several luxury cars – including a rare collectible Mercedes – removed about a week before the attack.
Police are investigating a suspicious fire at the Ormond Road business on Thursday.Credit: Eddie Jim
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These latest arson attacks come after revelations by The Age that Deicke is the target of an extortion plot by the leader of an outlaw motorcycle gang, believed to have ordered the July firebombings of two smash repair businesses controlled by Deicke.
The Age also revealed a notorious Melbourne bikie threatened to burn down Deicke’s $10 million Brighton mansion if he refuses to pay.
On Thursday morning, Deicke’s Brighton home was undamaged, with a mobile police unit stationed nearby.
On July 30, fire from a torched car spread to Deicke’s Melbourne Collision Repair Centre’s Mentone site.
Around the same time, multiple vehicles were set alight at the same Laverton business targeted in Friday’s attack, in what police believe was a coordinated attack. A group of men were seen smashing car windows before setting them alight. One of the arsonists set himself on fire, according to witnesses.
On July 18, the Laverton business was also targeted in a drive-by shooting.
One of the Melbourne Collision Repair Centre sites attacked by arsonists in July.Credit: Jason South
All three Melbourne Smash Repairs sites – Laverton, Elwood, and Mentone – have now been the subject of suspicious fires.
Earlier this year, The Age reported that Deicke has ties to the Comanchero outlaw motorcycle gang.
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Speaking to The Age in July, Deicke denied he owned the smash repairs businesses, which are registered to his long-term partner, Belinda Pitts, according to records filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
He told this masthead he did not know why the businesses had been targeted.
“I’ve got no idea, but I’m not the owner. We’ve got four young children, and we need to be left alone,” he said.
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