The spate of hits ordered on Thursday, April 16, targeting Melbourne’s nightlife industry began with two curiously synchronised attacks.
At 4.20am, a sledgehammer carried by a masked offender shattered the glass window of Kittens, a strip club in South Melbourne.
Almost simultaneously, across the city in South Yarra, another set of hooded offenders torched the popular nightclub and bar, The Emerson.
Then, just 100 metres down the road, intruders broke into another venue, The Osborne, dousing the floor with petrol, and fleeing just seconds before patrolling officers arrived on the scene.
The night’s orchestrated violence was capped exactly two hours after it began, at 6.20am, with a mistake: The offenders sent to target the Epping office of a top club promoter company mistakenly torched a nearby bakery instead.
Seemingly unaware of their error, a note was left outside the firebombed premises reading: “[Name redacted] your [sic] next.”
It was not the first night of the crime spree plaguing Melbourne’s nightlife scene, which has forced club promoters and security figures into hiding, and venue owners to fortify their venues and run around-the-clock security.
But the attacks marked an escalation that caused Victoria Police to issue an extraordinary warning the next day, with arson commander Chris Murray urging anyone enjoying the city’s nightlife scene to be on high alert for suspicious activity.
By April 16, there had been more than a dozen related incidents, including three kidnappings, a spate of firebombings, and a drive-by shooting.
The mysterious crime gang coordinating the attacks has still not made any explicit extortion demands, according to police and underworld sources.
It’s a crime wave all too familiar to Melburnians who have already lived through the city’s raging tobacco war.
The target might be different but the way its carried out is the same. Teenagers – some with links to youth gangs – have been hired via encrypted messaging apps to carry out the violence, paying as little as a few hundred dollars and as much as $20,000 depending on the job.
But it’s left police, underworld and hospitality figures scratching their heads, dealing with an architect who is pouring tens of thousands of dollars into orchestrating these attacks, deploying dozens of foot soldiers – with no clear indication of their ultimate goal.
Police intelligence suggests a high level of sophistication, with offenders conducting reconnaissance, filming venues and staking out targets.
In one instance, a drone was used to conduct surveillance of a venue before an attack.
The elite police taskforce, Operation Eclipse, assembled last week is investigating several motives, but nothing clear has emerged.
Police have said all the club owners had been co-operative and did not know why they were attacked.
The police pressure is yet to deter whoever is pulling the strings from relenting on their campaign, which has now clocked at least 30 incidents this masthead has traced back to February.
Over the weekend, the hostility dangerously escalated when offenders stormed into the home of Albion co-owner Dominic Porter, while his children were inside.
While the attacks continue, Murray has a message for those involved.
“The one common denominator is there is someone sitting above who is pulling the strings,” he said. “They’re the ones we’re interested in.
“These young kids are being used as cannon fodder for a few hundred dollars. And when they do go to prison, I can tell you now, they’re not getting phone calls from the people that put them up.”
Here is how it’s unfolded:
Wednesday, February 4
The first known attack in the series occurred at The Emerson at around 4am, with three unidentified hooded figures ram-raiding the entrance of the Commercial Road venue with a ute.
CCTV captures the men jumping out of the vehicle carrying jerry cans of fuel, with one filming on a phone before fleeing the scene.
Thursday, March 26
At 2am, the notorious Prahran nightclub Love Machine – which had been shut since September over liquor licensing issues – is ram-raided and set alight. By the time officers arrive, the building is fully engulfed in flames.
Thursday, April 9
At 6pm, three 17-year-old males armed with a bat, machete and samurai sword are accused of targeting nightclub promoter Paul Samlidis outside his Templestowe home, leaving him hospitalised.
Samlidis runs the popular Alumbra event on Saturday nights at the Albion Hotel in South Melbourne, which detectives believe is connected to the alleged assault.
Friday, April 10
At 6am, the trio allegedly return to the same Templestowe property, ram-raiding the house in a stolen white Toyota Camry and injuring Samlidis’ 66-year-old father.
Sunday, April 12
The 17-year-olds – two from Point Cook and another from Altona Meadows – enter the third day of their alleged crime spree, arriving at an address in Wollert where they are accused of carrying out a carjacking.
Police believe the trio were targeting one of Samlidis’ associates, who this masthead has chosen to refer to as Promoter B for safety reasons.
Promoter B is part of a company that runs some of Melbourne’s most popular clubbing nights, including Levels at Brown Alley, Mango Club at La Di Da, and the Alumbra night at The Albion.
Monday, April 13
The same offenders are accused of returning again to the Wollert address, allegedly launching two separate attempted home invasions targeting Promoter B.
Tuesday, April 14
At 5.45am, unknown masked offenders target CBD strip club Men’s Gallery, firing shots at the Lonsdale Street venue.
That same day, the three 17-year-olds are accused of breaking into a Malvern address and abducting a man.
According to the trio’s charge sheets, the Malvern man is held hostage in Reservoir overnight and seriously assaulted.
Police believe the accused teens mistakenly abducted the wrong individual, when they meant to snatch Promoter B.
Wednesday, April 15
At 3am, South Melbourne venue The Albion is firebombed, the bar home to Alumbra, the Saturday night event run by Samlidis and Promoter B’s company.
Later that day, the injured Malvern man who was allegedly held hostage is dumped outside the Northern Hospital in Epping.
Thursday, April 16
The Emerson, The Osborne, the Epping promoter’s office, and South Melbourne strip club Kittens are all targeted within a two-hour window.
Friday, April 17
At 4.10am, a masked offender aims a gun out the window of a dark-coloured car, firing a single shot at the entrance of Men’s Gallery. Footage filmed from the passenger side of the car shows a security guard ducking for cover.
The bullet is obstructed by a car parked in front of the strip club.
That morning in Southbank, riverside restaurants Soho and Left Bank are targeted by arsonists. The same silver Nissan Patrol used in The Emerson attack a day earlier is captured on CCTV at the scene.
Saturday, April 18
At 5am, CBD nightclub Bar Bambi in the famed AC/DC Lane – owned by one-time mayoral candidate Nick Russian – is torched.
Over the same weekend, the owners of renowned South Yarra bistro France-Soir start receiving calls from concerned customers who had heard that threats were made against the venue.
Thursday, April 23
Around 3am, police arrest a 31-year-old Sandringham man and a 22-year-old Mooroolbark woman spotted acting suspiciously outside France-Soir and its neighbouring bar, Le Splendide.
Searching their vehicle, arresting officers find jerry cans, accelerant, an imitation firearm and drugs.
Later that night, at 10.40pm, a Keysborough warehouse belonging to liquor brand 80 Proof is firebombed. The brand’s founders, George Grigoriadis and Danny Grant, are both well-known nightclub industry figures.
80 Proof, which sells fruity-flavoured liqueur shots, is also connected to Samlidis.
Saturday, April 25
At 5am – as Victorians gathered at The Shrine of Remembrance for the Anzac Day dawn service – Bar Bambi is targeted for a second time. Officers chase three teens down AC/DC Lane soon after the alleged arson, arresting and charging the trio.
Sunday, April 26
Three venues are hit in one night, beginning at The Emerson at 2am, with several shots fired from a car while revellers are still inside. The venue claims in a statement posted to Instagram the shots were blanks.
At 5am, Chapel Street venue Bar Up is torched by a solo offender who flees the scene on foot. By 6.45am, Kittens strip club in South Melbourne is attacked for a second time, with offenders smashing a window with a hammer.
Monday, April 27
At 4am, patrolling officers foil an attempted arson at Left Bank. They arrest two 16-year-old males who allegedly donned balaclavas after arriving in a stolen Mazda loaded with jerry cans of fuel and a sledgehammer.
Tuesday, April 28
Victoria Police announce the establishment of Operation Eclipse, a specialist unit formed to hunt down the mysterious masterminds of the attacks.
Detective Jason Kelly concedes the force has no idea what is driving the crime spree.
Wednesday, April 29
Detectives raid three properties in Melbourne’s north-east, charging a trio of 17-year-old males over the alleged kidnappings.
They are remanded in custody.
Thursday, April 30
At 1.45am, the Gotham City brothel in South Melbourne is shot at in a drive-by attack, with bullets hitting a roller door and a parked car.
It came days after the venue’s owner received a threat, and after CCTV captured a car surveilling the Clarke Street venue. The driver was identified as the same man who had issued the threats.
Saturday, May 2
The George Hotel in South Melbourne is attacked about 2.30am with a Molotov cocktail thrown at the front. A small fire ignites but causes minimal damage. At 3.45am a security guard inside Docklands’ Almina restaurant watches as the glass door is smashed and offenders pour accelerant inside, igniting it in two locations. The fire is extinguished before it can take hold.
About two hours later and 60 kilometres away, two men force entry to the Pakenham home of Dominic Porter, co-owner of The Albion in South Melbourne. Porter’s children were present at the time, and neighbours said they heard two shots fired. No one was injured.
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