A disgruntled customer is accused of starting a massive fire at a car rental agency by scattering firewood and using fast food packages as fuel before pouring gasoline on the material beneath a $363,000 Mercedes.
Moon Serk Park, 41, appeared in he Brisbane The Complaint Court on Saturday charged him with arson over the blaze that engulfed Queensland Luxury Car Rentals on Ashmore Rd in the Gold Coast suburb of Bundall at about 6.30am on Friday morning.
Prosecutors alleged Park threw “a flaming object” at the rental agency’s gray Mercedes SUV that he had previously prepared to ignite by placing the combustible material underneath.
Police allege he poured five litres of fuel from a can onto the firewood and used McDonald’s paper bags as kindling, and that his actions were caught on CCTV cameras, the court heard. mail.
A new AMG G63 sells for around $363,591.
Park was allegedly upset with the rental car company after paying $1955 to rent a BMW, but failed to pay an additional $2000 security bond, meaning he was unable to pick up the car.
Mr. Park demanded to cancel the rental contract and get an “immediate refund.”
After being told the refund would take five days, Mr Park allegedly became “unhappy and made several threats” to the business “via text messages”, police allege.
A man has been charged with setting a massive fire at a Gold Coast car rental company
When Queensland Luxury Car Rentals requested a copy of Park’s credit card to process the refund, he refused to provide it.
Mr Park is alleged to have rented a white Mazda CX30 with Victorian registration plates and drove up to the kerb to park on the pavement outside the car rental company before emerging wearing a “black mask and sunglasses”.
Police say Mr Park collected a 15kg yellow bag of firewood from the boot and then approached the grey Mercedes before scattering the firewood underneath.
He allegedly returned to the rented Mazda and collected a five-litre can of fuel from the front passenger door and then poured fuel onto the beams strewn beneath the Mercedes before adding McDonald’s paper bags to the pile of wood.
“The fire started and caused irreparable damage to the grey Mercedes and extensive damage to the building,” Magistrate Terry Duroux said, citing the police objection to the bail affidavit.
‘Heat, smoke and soot caused further damage to high-end motor vehicles parked nearby.’
“At this time, the monetary value of the damage is unknown. The allegations seem pretty compelling to me.”
Police allege that Moon Serk Park, 41, set fire to a $363,000 car to create an inferno at the rental agency
Legal Aid Queensland legal aid lawyer Anastasia Stoenko said her client denied the allegation and questioned how Mr Park could be identified if he was wearing a face mask and sunglasses.
He said Mr Park, who has been an Australian citizen since 2003, had recently moved to Brisbane from Melbourne and was living out of his car because he could not find a room to rent that he could afford with a fortnightly payment of $700 to Centrelink.
She was diagnosed with bipolar disorder during the pandemic and has had difficulty getting more medication, Stoenko said.
Magistrate Duroux refused bail because he said the risk of Park reoffending was too high.
Mr Park was on bail on a separate charge of arson, malicious damage and theft.
He is due back in court in Brisbane on August 5, where all his current charges will be heard together.
The prosecution’s full brief of evidence must be submitted to the court by August 31.
