Blake Richard Hoover, 31, of Punta Gorda, Fla., between Sarasota and Fort Myers, is accused of intentionally setting a fire at a local Chabad Jewish Center on Sept. 19, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
The center includes a Hebrew school and synagogue, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Hoover allegedly set the fire on Friday night, the Shabbat before Rosh Hashanah, and a fire alarm went off at 10:48 p.m., according to the Justice Department.
“Upon the fire being extinguished and subsequent investigation, it was determined that the fire was an act of arson,” per the complaint. “In addition to the fire damage, three areas were spray-painted with the letter ‘J’ and appeared to have been recently painted.”
The Punta Gorda Police Department and Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office heard from a source about a suspect on Sept. 22 in the course of their investigation, and they identified Hoover as someone who “expressed an intent to burn down the Chabad Jewish Center prior to Sept. 19.”
“The person indicated that Hoover had a hatred towards Jewish people and that Hoover had left his residence on Sept. 19, 2025, and returned that evening with a spray paint can,” the Justice Department said. “A gas can went missing when Hoover left earlier in the night and was returned to Hoover’s residence empty. The person confronted Hoover about what Hoover had spray-painted, and Hoover replied, the letter ‘J.’”
The Justice Department also stated that a license plate reader placed Hoover’s vehicle near the Jewish center at around 10:09 p.m. that night, and when officers executed a search warrant at Hoover’s home, they “recovered a spray paint can and gas can.”
