Medford Man Held on 100k Bail for Roxbury Fire

A Medford man was arraigned in his hospital bed Wednesday and ordered held on $100,000 bail on charges that he caused an early morning fire that caused over $4 million damages in Roxbury Monday, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley said in a press release.

Abdul Jabar Mohamed, 28, is charged with assault with intent to murder, arson of a dwelling, igniting a destructive device or substance, malicious destruction of property, and causing injury to a firefighter.

Mohamed allegedly started the fire by pulling the piping off of relative’s gas stove in an apartment at 71 Westminster Ave., and holding an open flame to the gas, prosecutors said.

The explosion knocked out part of the building’s side facing Wardman Road and Westminster Avenue and extended to all three floors. About a dozen people suffered minor injuries in the incident.

In an arraignment in the burn unit at Mass General Hospital Wednesday, Suffolk County Judge David Weingarten set bail at $100,000.

“There’s evidence that this was a suicide attempt,” Conley said in a statement. “That may be. But it was much more than that: this fire caused an explosion that blew out an entire wall of a residential building in the middle of the night. It put dozens, if not hundreds, of lives in jeopardy."

Mohamed suffered serious burns in the fire. He was transported to Mass General  from the Boston Medical Center, where he brougbht himself early Monday morning, the press release said.

Mohamed was questioned by police later Monday morning, who originally thought he was a victim of the fire, the press release said. But during the interview he allegedly told police he “burned the house down.”

Residents were jumping from the upper windows, with one family tossing a young child into the waiting arms of a firefighter, prosecutors said.

Between 50 and 60 people were displaced by the fire.

Mohamed's next court date is Nov. 17.

The information in this report was provided by the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office.