A 47-year-old woman was arrested and charged with arson and related offenses in connection with a fire this week at Papi Cuisine restaurant in South Baltimore.
Sheena Herring of Baltimore was arrested Thursday and transported to Central Booking, Baltimore City Police said Friday night. She is charged with second-degree arson, arson-trash container and malicious burning, according to police.
Video of the incident shared on social media shows a person walking by a dumpster, which appears to burst into flames minutes later. The dumpster and a storage area of the restaurant were damaged in the fire, according to Papi Cuisine.
The charges did not appear in online court records Friday night — though court records show Herring was also charged this week with drug possession. She did not have an attorney listed in that case.
Herring was indicted for arson and other charges in September but failed to appear for her trial, according to court records.
Baltimore Police had confirmed that the May 6 fire at Papi Cuisine was being investigated as an arson incident.
The restaurant also shared on social media that a sprinkler system had activated and controlled the worst of the fire. It reopened shortly afterward.
Papi Cuisine, an Afro-Latin fusion restaurant, is located at 2 E. Wells St., under the 1901 South Charles loft apartments in South Baltimore.
The restaurant’s liquor license has been the subject of recent protest by neighbors who say its customers are disruptive.
This is a developing story.
Reporter Matti Gellman contributed to this story.
