Police stumped by 'strange' torching of car in Hamilton

Police in Hamilton are appealing for any information that could elucidate the mystery behind a car torched just 200 metres from where it was stolen on the outskirts of town.

The Great Wall ute was taken sometime on Friday night and discovered at 2am on Saturday morning after fire crews responded to reports of an explosion in Beath Street, Hamilton.

Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Mark James confirmed the vehicle had been intentionally torched, but said the other circumstances surrounding the incident remained murky.

"The car appears to have only been driven a short distance before being set on fire. It's a bit strange for a car to be driven such a short distance and then burnt," he said.

"We're talking about a matter of a couple of hundred metres."

Detective Acting Senior Sergeant James said the vehicle, which was owned by a Warrnambool business but used by a Hamilton resident, had a distinctive paint job that would have made it easy for any witnesses to spot.

"t was quite a distinctive vehicle because it had an Australian flag painted on it, so if anyone saw that vehicle getting around on Saturday night please contact police," he said.

The Standard asked whether police were treating the incident as an opportunistic crime, but Detective Acting Senior Sergeant James said it was too early to say.

"We just don't know, it's not the usual way these things work.

The run of the mill with stolen cars is they get used for a purpose, like for the person to go and commit a crime somewhere. So this is strange, it's not the usual thing that happens when a car gets stolen," he said.

"We can't say 100 per cent the car wasn't driven somewhere and then brought back to near where it was stolen, or whether it was literally driven around the corner and then set on fire."

The area where the car was found was away from the centre of town, out towards the Hamilton tip.

"There are houses out there but not many. It's a quiet area that's quite isolated at night time," Detective Acting Senior Sergeant James said.

"The car may well have been driven around by the offender beforehand. The victim last saw it when he went to bed and then it gets located in the early hours of the morning, so there's quite a few hours in between when the victim last saw the car and when it gets found."

He said police were keeping all options open as far as motive was concerned.

"It could be malicious damage, it could be a number of things that we're looking into," he said.

"Truth's always stranger than fiction, so we're very interested if anyone's got any information."

IN OTHER NEWS

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:

Saturday, July 22, 12.30pm:

There were reports of an explosion when a Warrnambool car caught fire in Hamilton on Saturday.

A Hamilton police spokesperson said the vehicle was destroyed in the blaze which happened in Beath Street.

A CFA spokesperson said crews were called to the fire at 2am on July 22.

He said the car was totally burnt out but was unable to say what kind of vehicle it was.

The CFA spokesperson said there were also reports of an explosion.

He said police were called to the fire which was being treated as suspicious.

The police spokesperson said the vehicle was from Warrnambool.

No further details were available.