Police are hunting an arsonist in Perth‘s northern suburbs, accused of torching a single mother’s car while she slept.
Locals woke to the sound of explosions and screams for help as Hollie Mazzucchelli’s car went up in flames on a Ballajura street.
The arson attack was caught on CCTV just before 3am, when a fire bug was seen setting the vehicle alight before leaving on a bicycle, only to return moments later and add more fuel to the flames.
“About 2:40am this morning, I heard a big explosion, and then shortly after, my car alarm started going off,” Mazzucchelli told reporters.
“Then I’ve run out the front and I’ve seen just flames bellowing from the back of the car.”
The mum-of-two grabbed her garden hose and screamed for help as neighbours called Triple Zero.
Mazzucchelli wiped away tears as she labelled the car her “lifeline” to provide for her family, with the uninsured vehicle only just paid off.
“I’ve been raising two girls on my own for the past five years, since my separation,” she said.
“I work full-time and this car is my lifeline.
“This is something that I wanted to invest in so I could eventually get a home loan if I was to sell it. I’ve just finished paying off the car loan in the last month.”
The vehicle is now a write off, which her sister Shari Rajcinoski describes as “devastating”.
“She’s a hard-working single mother,” Rajcinoski said.
“She doesn’t have insurance on the car, and now she’s got to bear the brunt of somebody else’s actions.”
The 35-year-old is just thankful her children weren’t home.
“Really, really scary that this has happened and that someone can come in and come onto my property and potentially put myself and my kids in that type of harm is really concerning,” Mazzucchelli said.
Police are investigating the incident.
