Baltimore market closed after rat spotted in bakery case

BALTIMORE – A historic Baltimore market is closed temporarily after a video posted on social media showed a rat scampering through a bakery’s display case.

The health department closed two bakery stalls at Lexington Market on Thursday, one for a rodent infestation and another for a fly infestation. On Friday, management announced the market would close for an evaluation. It will reopen Saturday.

The video posted on Facebook on Thursday had more than 500,000 views by midday Friday. It shows a rat climbing across two cake halves and then scurrying through piles of cookies on a higher shelf. You can hear customers’ reactions to the rat’s antics, including one person shouting, “Just grab him by the neck!”

The market was founded in 1782 and the current structure dates to the 1950s.