Arson attacks on tattoo parlours linked to Rebel and Comanchero bikie gang conflift

ARSON attacks on two tattoo parlours have been identified as being at the root of months of conflict between the Rebel and Comanchero bikie gangs.


The parlours in Melbourne’s outer-east were firebombed in mid-2015.
Shockwaves from the arsons have reverberated among outlaw motorcycle gangs with a succession of bashings and drive-by shootings.


Detectives from the anti-bikie Echo taskforce say the tattoo businesses, at Lilydale and Seville, were owned by Rebels members.


Both were destroyed in arson attacks in the early hours of May 13, leaving a $250,000 damage bill.
Molotov cocktails were thrown through the front ­windows of both premises.
The attacks remain the ­subject of police investigation.


Detective Acting Inspector Stuart Bailey, of the anti-gangs division, said a previous bashing may have led to the tattoo parlour torchings.


Detective Acting Inspector Stuart Bailey.

“Echo taskforce investigators have intelligence to suggest that this attack was as a result of an officer-bearer of the Comancheros being seriously assaulted in Darwin in April of 2015,” Insp. Bailey said.
Police would not say who had been the victim in the Northern Territory attack.
But it was widely reported that former Comanchero boss Mick Murray was assaulted in Darwin during that period.


Assaults, more firebombings and drive-by shootings have since been linked to the conflict.
A fight between high-level members of both gangs broke out at a hotel in Dandenong last October.
This was followed by a fire at a Rebels clubhouse eight days later, which led senior police to warn motorcycle gang members about the con-tinuing friction.


Insp. Bailey said there had been no flare-ups since ­November. “Echo taskforce will continue to investigate these ­historical matters to bring those responsible to account,” he said.
Police have appealed for ­information from anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area at the time.


Australia - BN

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