Florida Chabad synagogue and community center set aflame in arson

The Florida Las Olas Chabad Jewish Center was ravaged by a fire in an act of arson early Saturday morning, causing damage to the synagogue, Hebrew school, and community center, Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue, Fort Lauderdale Police Department, and Las Olas Chabad said.

Security footage showed a man placing what appeared to be a flammable substance into the grill of a minivan parked outside the center. The arsonist, in custody and identified by the Fort Lauderdale Police Department as Scott Hannaford, 50, had attempted to set fire to other objects outside the center, including what appeared to be an electrical box. Fire Rescue said on Saturday on social media that the fire leaped from the vehicle to the building.

Hannaford had come prepared with materials needed to commit arson, and it did not seem a crime of opportunity but a targeted attack, Las Olas Chabad codirector Rabbi Chaim Slavaticki told The Jerusalem Post on Monday. His belief was informed by previous interactions with the alleged arsonist.