Man arrested in connection with fire at Jewish Museum of Maryland

The Lloyd Street Synagogue at 11 Lloyd St, built in 1845 by the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation, is owned and operated by the Jewish Museum of Maryland and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Amy Davis/staff

A 66-year-old man was arrested Saturday in connection with a fire set outside the Jewish Museum in Maryland on Sunday.

Baltimore Police obtained an arrest warrant Friday for the man, later identified as Assadollah Hashemi, who was suspected to have caused the damage at the facility last weekend. On Saturday, Baltimore City SWAT officers entered his home on the 700 block of Druid Park Lake Drive and took him into custody. Baltimore Police wrote in a news release that he has a history of “fire-related crimes.” He was taken to the Central Booking Intake Facility and will be charged soon.

The museum, located at 15 Lloyd Street in Jonestown on the east side of downtown, is closed until late this year for a renovation project. On Monday morning, contracting crews found the remnants of a small fire outside the building’s front gates, according to Baltimore Jewish Council Executive Director Howard Libit.

Video footage depicts a person pulling up to the museum around 10:30 p.m. Sunday and lighting a small item on fire in front of the locked gates before leaving, Libit said. About 20 minutes later, the fire department came to extinguish the fire.

The museum is located between two historic synagogues, the Lloyd Street Synagogue and B’nai Israel.

Originally called the Jewish Historical Society of Maryland, the museum was founded in 1960 and took on its current name in 1998.