Shocking footage has captured the moment a young woman’s first car became the latest target in Melbourne’s spiralling crime wave after she had saved up for years.
Kyela Smith, 18, was woken up by her mother at their house in Dromana, in the city’s south, in the early hours of Monday morning to find her car ablaze after what appears to be a random arson attack.
Her mother, Angelique Smith, told Daily Mail Australia she had initially thought people were firing guns outside when she heard loud popping sounds around 2.45am.
‘I was still up doing things and then there was an explosion and I thought it kind of sounded like a gunshot in the distance,’ Ms Smith said.
She said she locked the doors and dimmed the lights, then realised her daughter’s new car, a 2003 Nissan Skyline Japanese import she was ‘in love with’, was a fireball outside and she raced to her bedroom to wake her up.
Kylea said she burst into tears when she learnt what happened because ‘there was no build up, it was engulfed by the time I saw it and too late to save it’.
The suspected arson is the latest in a string of brazen incidents to rock Melbourne, which has also included a sushi chef randomly stabbed while walking in the CBD and a city clothing boutique robbed in broad daylight.
The teenager’s 18th birthday celebrations have been called off and her older brother, Ryan, has launched a GoFundMe to help his younger sister afford another car.
Kyela Smith, then-17, was woken up by her mother to find her cherished car ablaze in Melbourne’s south at 3.30am on Monday
CCTV footage obtained from Kyela’s neighbours allegedly captured the moment two figures allegedly approached the car before it went up in flames
Kyela and her mother, Angelique, looked outside to find the car completely engulfed in flames
Daily Mail Australia contacted Victoria police about the incident on Wednesday night, and it is understood they are investigating.
Kyela said she was woken up her mother screaming ‘hysterically’ but the teen did not believe the news at first until she checked outside.
‘I thought there’s no way, but went out to our balcony and I could see my car was just completely engulfed by flames.’
Angelique called Triple-0 while the car was still ablaze, but said officers initially treated the incident as a simple engine failure.
Daily Mail Australia was similarly told on Tuesday the incident was being treated as ‘non-suspicious’.
However, new footage supplied by the family’s neighbours to Daily Mail revealed two hooded individuals approached the parked car on the side of the road.
Despite the rain, the two unidentified strangers could been seen appearing to ignite an object which they then tossed at Kyela’s car, causing a massive explosion.
Kyela said she had saved for the car for most of her working life and that it had been her ‘first big purchase’.
Emergency services were called to extinguish the fire which was initially ruled as non-suspicious by police
Police initially treated the incident as a car malfunction but CCTV paints a different picture
By Wednesday, footage was uncovered that shows what might have happened
The recently turned 18-year-old’s birthday celebrations have been postponed as the family attempt to figure out whether or not the alleged attack was random or deliberate, though they said there is no reason why they’d be targetted.
Instead of celebrating and getting her license the teen, who is now 18, is now trying to stay optimistic and find alternative modes of transport.
The Nissan is still sitting where Kyela had parked it as police continue to investigate.
The 18-year-old’s mother said passersby had begun specifically driving down their street to have a look at its burnt out wreckage.
‘Maybe we should put some Christmas decorations on it to make the situation a little better,’ she said.
‘Better to not get too caught up in the tragedy, I suppose.
‘I messaged Kyela today at work on Tuesday and said ‘you left your window open and it’s raining’, but she didn’t find it funny.
Little jokes like that, you got to do that to lighten the mood.’
Kyela, now 18, had been planning to celebrate her birthday by getting her license so she could use the car full-time
Kyela’s brother, Ryan, has since launched a GoFundMe to help his sister afford another car
Meanwhile Kyela said she is still shattered over what had happened.
‘I can’t even look at photos of it before because it’s just so sad,’ Kyela said.
‘It was imported from Japanese, so the guy I bought it off of it was sort of his toy, his pride and joy.
‘It was just different to anything we’d ever seen, it had little bits and pieces and multiple screens that made it special.’
The teen had worked three jobs while studying in both TAFE and highschool to save up for the vehicle’s $6,000 price tag.
Anyone with information on the alleged incident has been urged to contact CrimeStoppers.