PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Punta Gorda man is facing felony arson charges after his mother told police she believed he started a fire at a synagogue last Friday night.
The Chabad of Charlotte County was the site of a recent arson attack, in which someone broke a window, started a fire in one of the classrooms and spray-painted "J" across the building. Crews were able to extinguish the flames quickly, and no injuries were reported, but the building interior was damaged, along with a broken door and window.
The fire occurred the night of September 19, and on Monday, a woman called the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office and told a detective that her sister told her she believed it was her son, Blake Hoover, who started the fire.
His mother later told detectives that Hoover, 31, hated Jewi