La Porchetta founder dies in crash

TRAGIC ACCIDENT: Rocco 'Rocky' Pantaleo, the former Italian migrant turned pizza chef and philanthropist, died when his motorbike collided with a car at the busy St Kilda Junction - a notorious road-accident blackspot.

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The millionaire founder of the La Porchetta pizza restaurant chain has been killed in a motorcycle crash in Melbourne this afternoon.

Rocco 'Rocky' Pantaleo, the former Italian migrant turned pizza chef and philanthropist, died when his motorbike collided with a car at the busy St Kilda Junction - a notorious road-accident blackspot -  about 11.30am.

The crash occurred just 120 metres from the Albert Park racing track, where large crowds have gathered ahead of this weekend's Australian Grand Prix.

La Porchetta spokeswoman Margot Gorski confirmed Mr Pantaleo's death "with great sadness".

"Rocky Pantaleo will be deeply missed by his family and the La Porchetta community," she said in a statement.

She said the 53-year-old spoke no English when he arrived in Australia at the age of 21.

"Together with a business partner, he took over a rundown restaurant in North Carlton called La Porchetta in 1985," she said.

"He began franchising the concept five years later and today, there are 80 restaurants in the group."

Ms Gorski said Mr Pantaleo was married, with four children.

"His family have requested privacy at this time and won't be making any further media statements," she said.

Mr Pantaleo was riding north on St Kilda Road at the time of the crash and died at the scene, police said.

City-bound lanes on St Kilda Road were blocked for four hours while the crash investigation unit attended the scene.

Mr Pantaleo had only recently regained his licence after he pleaded guilty in Melbourne Magistrates Court last year to exceeding the prescribed concentration of alcohol.

His licence was suspended for six months from September after he returned a blood-alcohol reading of .065. The period lapsed on March 4, exactly three weeks before the accident.

In 1997, he shot dead - and was later cleared of any criminal responsibility - a man who subjected him to a "relentless and brutal" assault in one of his restaurants.

Keith Desmond Lane had confronted Mr Pantaleo about allegations he had sexually assaulted a teenage waitress.

Mr Pantaleo, who later received a suspended sentence for possessing the illegal pistol used to shoot Mr Lane, was convicted in 1998 and fined $10,000 on contested charges of indecently assaulting her.

He also appeared in court last December when he pleaded guilty to two local council charges over illegal building works.

Those charges stemmed from a complaint about ice cream sales from the North Carlton restaurant directly on to the street that caused pedestrian obstruction.

Investigators found alterations had been done to the shop front without a building permit.

It was claimed Mr Pantaleo had been let down by a draughtsman who failed to arrange the permits, while the offences "may have gone unnoticed" but for a rival icecream operator "peeved" because Mr Pantaleo was doing "a bumper trade on the footpath".

Mr Pantaleo and his company were placed on good behaviour undertakings with costs of $3587.

- © Fairfax NZ News