By CAMERON LUCADOU-WELLS
A DANDENONG tattoo parlour with alleged bikie gang associations is apparently on the move after being riddled with “military-style weapon” bullets last Monday.
The Passion 4 Pain store, which has been closed since the drive-by shooting, made a statement on Facebook that it was seeking to find a new venue to rebuild the business.
“Fingers crossed everyone … I think we may have a shop,” it stated last Thursday. “To all our loyal ink fiends we are sorry for the inconvenience over the past week. We’ll make sure our new studio will not disappoint.”
Nearby residents say they were woken by several loud bangs when more than 20 bullets pierced the store’s front windows despite being shielded by steel shutters in Gladstone Road about 4am on Monday.
Parishioners were shocked to see crime-scene tape and a litter of bullet shells on the road as they arrived for 9.15am Mass at the directly-opposite St Gerard’s Catholic Church.
One told the Journal it was inevitable there would be an issue since the tattoo parlour recently opened.
Others questioned the foresight of opening a tattoo parlour facing the church and its parish school.
“My son goes to the (parish) school here. All you see over there is a rough group of bikies inside of (the tattoo parlour),” a mother said.
Under Greater Dandenong’s planning scheme, there were no restrictions on tattoo parlours being built near churches, schools, kindergartens and residences.
Greater Dandenong city planning director Jody Bosman said the site, zoned commercial 1, had been used by various shops in the past.
“The use of the land for a shop is the correct use for this site.
“No planning permit was required to relocate the tattoo business to this site as the use of the site falls within the definition of a “shop” in accordance with Clause 74 of the Greater Dandenong Planning Scheme.”
On Monday, Acting Deputy Commissioner Steve Fontana said the tattoo parlour – formerly Nitro Ink – and Nitro Gym in Hallam, which was also attacked with bullets and two undetonated bombs pre-dawn, were owned by a Commancheros bikie gang office-bearer.
Mr Fontana said Hells Angels members were suspected to be responsible, using “high-powered military-style weapons” such as AK-47s and M1 carbines to shoot up the premises as well as a Rock Machine gang’s clubhouse in Clayton South and a Bandidos clubhouse in Dandenong in recent weeks.
Mr Fontana called for public help to locate the weapons, fearing an innocent bystander as well as the intended targets could be killed.
Nitro Gym’s publicity manager Mike Jones denied the gym was owned by bikies. He said the gym was owned by a Western Australian businessman.
According to Australian Securities and Investments Commission documents, Michael Murray, the Comancheros state president, was the sole listed director and shareholder of Nitro Gym Pty Ltd up until the company’s voluntary deregistration in July 2008.
The company’s principal place of business was listed as the gym’s current address at Princes Highway Hallam.
Mr Murray was an interested onlooker on Monday, speaking to police at the scene as bomb squad members and robots worked to defuse the two home-made bombs thrown through the gym’s front windows.
Mr Murray is not listed as an office-bearer or shareholder of Nitro Ink Pty Ltd, which is based in Hampton Park.
Passion 4 Pain did not respond to a request for an interview. During a brief conversation, Nitro Ink’s manager said Passion 4 Pain was a “separate business”.
