Ramming and fireball at Charmhaven tobacco shop

A charred mess has been left at a Charmhaven shopping centre following the second fire attack this month at a tobacconist shop on the Central Coast.

Rick’s Tobacconist and Gift Shop on the Pacific Hwy is a crime scene being investigated by Tuggerah Lakes Police after a vehicle rammed into the shop and then set alight in the early hours of Thursday, August 22.

Emergency services were called at about 2.15am and NSW Fire and Rescue officers worked quickly to extinguish the blaze but the shop was extensively damaged.

The hairdressing salon and bike shop on either side were also damaged and have been forced to close.

Police have not received any reports of injury, and no-one was located at the scene when they arrived.

Security footage showed a vehicle slamming into the front of the shop and two people in balaclavas dousing the car with fuel to set it alight, erupting into a fireball.

They were seen on the footage running away, one of them trying to put out flames on their upper body.

This is the second attack this month at a tobacco shop, among fears that a “turf war” is escalating.

A newly opened tobacco shop at Ettalong Beach was ramraided on August 6, followed by a firebombing at the same premises on August 9.

The proliferation of tobacco outlets, selling “chop chop” tobacco with no excise or duty paid has been discussed at a recent Regional Advisory Council Meeting at NSW Business Central Coast.

Central Coast Council and Member for Gosford Leisl Tesch have been asked to investigate.

Regulation of tobacco products sold in retail shops in NSW is under the jurisdiction of NSW Health.

Anyone with information about the either the Charmhaven or Ettalong Beach incidents is urged to come forward and contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Sue Murray