Cheryl Makin

@CherylMakin

An Edison man was charged with setting fire to a Rutgers University hallway and classroom.

Shayam Sridhar, 21, was charged with a second-degree count of aggravated arson for setting the fire.

The fire was set while students were completing a final exam in the Allison Road Classroom building.

PISCATAWAY – A 21-year-old Edison man was charged Thursday with setting fire to a hallway and classroom at a building at the school’s Busch Campus, said Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey and Director Kenneth Cop of the Rutgers University Police Department.

Shayam Sridhar was charged with a second-degree count of aggravated arson for setting the fire at the Allison Road Classroom (ARC) Building at 618 Allison Road on Dec. 20.

Sridhar was charged early Thursday during an investigation by Detective Todd Giese of the Rutgers University Police Department and Detective Todd O’Malley of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office. The defendant had been a student at Rutgers, but left during the fall term. He had signed up to return to classes in January.

Superior Court Judge Joseph Paone set bail at $75,000 for Sridhar, who was being held at the Middlesex County Adult Corrections Center in North Brunswick.

“I commend the efforts of the local law enforcement agencies that coordinated their efforts to apprehend the defendant,” Carey said. “These agencies include the Rutgers Police Department, the Edison Police Department and the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office. These dedicated members of law enforcement spent time away from their own families and friends, in order to protect and serve our citizens during the holidays.”

Sridhar was charged after Officer David Tingle of the Edison Police Department identified the defendant from a photo obtained during the investigation.

The investigation determined that Sridhar set fire to a 30-foot section of the hallway and the adjoining classroom on the second floor of the ARC Building at 1:03 p.m. on Dec. 20. The flash fire set off an alarm, forcing the evacuation of 210 students who were taking a final exam in a first-floor auditorium located beneath the burning hallway. No one was injured, Carey said.

The fire was extinguished by an overhead sprinkler, but damaged portions of the hallway and the classroom. Clean-up and repairs cost $250,000.

Carey said the investigation is active and is continuing. Anyone with information is asked to call Giese at 848-933-8025 or O’Malley at 732-745-3908.

Staff Writer Cheryl Makin: 732-565-7256; cmakin@mycentraljersey.com