Corio hit by arson, armed robbery

HUNT: Police want information on a hoon terrorising Hamlyn Heights.

By PAUL MILLAR

INVESTIGATORS will scan video footage of an arsonist who torched two cars outside a Corio medical centre early yesterday morning.
Detective Senior Sergeant Rod Lloyd said the Country Fire Authority was called out to a blaze at the Melbourne Pathology Centre on Bacchus Marsh Road at about 3.10am.
“Two vehicles were totally engulfed in flames and they both belonged to the pathology centre,” the detective said.
The fire had been reported by a passing motorist on his way to work.
An initial inspection of CCTV footage from the scene revealed that an arsonist had been spreading accelerant around the cars and then fled the scene.
Both cars were severely damaged in the fire.
Detectives are also investigating an armed robbery at a take-away coffee establishment in Corio yesterday morning.
The detective sergeant said a bandit, armed with an iron bar, threatened the attendant at Coffee Jet, in Thompsons Road just before 6am.
He demanded cash and the attendant handed over a small container with money in it and then the robber, who was wearing a black hoody, fled the scene on foot, heading south.
The attendant was unhurt in the incident.
Police believe the thief could have run up a nearby railway line.
Anybody with any information about the fires or the armed robbery is asked to contact local police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make a confidential report at crimestoppersvic.com.au.