Fire raged outside a local synagogue packed with ma'ariv worshipers as Shabbat came to a close this past weekend. The distinct smell of smoke permeated the sanctuary, as flames engulfed the Shul's sukkah, adjacent to the building, only blocks away from Yeshiva's Main Campus.

Worshipers at the K'hal Adath Jeshurun synagogue fled the building, stumbling upon three youths fleeing the scene. Torah Scrolls and prayer books in hand, congregants watched as firefighters fought the flames. Moments after the flames were doused, Sergeant Richard Kemmler, of the local police precinct, reported that three people had been apprehended and charged with second-degree arson. The fire destroyed the sukkah and scorched the side of the building.

Kemmler reported that eighteen-year-old Jose Ortega, who lives adjacent to the K'hal Adath Jeshurun Synagogue, nineteen-year-old Chris Nunoz, and a juvenile boy whose name was not released, started the fire Saturday night.

No injuries were reported, and none of the sacred objects housed within the building were damaged. Police have thus far declared the episode a simple case of vandalism, foregoing the more serious option of labeling the incident a bias crime.