A manhunt is underway for a 25-year-old who allegedly doused petrol on a woman and tried to set her on fire during an aggravated burglary at a Melbourne business.
The family of Bartholemew Griffith hold grave concerns due to his declining mental health and erratic behaviour.
Having just escaped a psychiatric ward, Griffith was seen entering a petrol station in Fairfield in Melbourne’s north east, ahead of allegedly undertaking what police say is a sickening attack nearby.
Griffith then stopped at a service station to buy a jerry can of fuel before returning to the business an hour and a half later.
The man from Ivanhoe, in Melbourne, allegedly stormed into the centre, and doused it with petrol before trying to set paper on fire.
The man from Ivanhoe, in Melbourne, allegedly stormed into the centre, and doused it with petrol before trying to set paper on fire.
That’s when police allege he splashed petrol all over her before lighting matches.
Police, who say his behaviour is “unpredictable”, said he then fled.
“He has attempted to light a fire inside the premise before leaving prior to police attendance,” Senior Constable Cameron Ashworth said.
Griffith was an involuntary patient at a psychiatric ward at the Austin Hospital but absconded on Friday night.
Police said he and the victim knew each other but she wasn’t his intended target.
Instead he had an issue with the business owner of the wellness centre and it’s likely he didn’t know she was inside at the time, they said.
The alleged burglary prompted a major police operation across Melbourne’s north.
Investigators spent the day searching Darebin Parklands, at one stage breaking into an unoccupied home near the wellness centre.
Police urged Bartholomew, who is wearing a red coat, to go to a police station so he can “get the help he needs”.
Anybody who sees him should contact police immediately and not approach him.
