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NEW BRUNSWICK: Edison cop indicted in fire-bombing

By Charles W. Kim, Managing Editor
NEW BRUNSWICK — A Middlesex County Grand Jury has indicted Edison Police Officer with trying to fire-bomb the Monroe Township home of his superior officer, according to officials.
The indictment handed up in New Brunswick on June 27, accused Michael A. Dotro, 37, of Manalapan with 10 counts, including charges of aggravated arson and five counts of attempting to murder Edison Capt. Mark Anderko and four relatives who lived with the police captain at their home in Monroe Township, according to a press release from the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.
According to the release, Mr. Dotro also was charged with criminal mischief, unlawful possession of a destructive device used to set the fire, hindering his apprehension or prosecution by providing false information to investigators, and retaliation for past official action of the police captain.
Last year, Mr. Dotro was arrested at his Monmouth County home in the afternoon of May 23, 2013 following an "intensive" investigation into the early morning fire at the Monroe Township home of Edison Police Capt. Mark Anderko May 20, police said.
According to police, Mr. Dotro intentionally set fire to the outside of the Arlene Drive residence as the family, consisting of Capt. Anderko, his wife, two children and 92-year-old mother slept.
Capt. Anderko and his family were able to escape the 4 a.m. blaze which "extensively" damaged the two-story, colonial home, according to police.
Police, EMT workers and firefighters from Monroe Township Fire Stations 23-A, 23-B, 51 and 57 arrived. The fire was extinguished within 10 to 15 minutes, according to police. Mr. Dotro pled not guilty to those charges on May 24.
In addition, his wife, Mr. Dotro, was also charged by the Grand Jury with hindering by providing false information during the investigation of her husband, police said.
Mr. Dotro was also charged with two other Edison officers earlier this year for allegedly planning to retaliate against a North Brunswick police officer that arrested an associate of his for drunk driving, according to a press release from the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office in April.
Fellow officers Victor E. Aravena, 42, and William H. Gesell, 45, both of Edison, were charged with a fourth degree count of conspiring to retaliate against the North Brunswick officer for performing an official act, according to the April release.
According to the release, the charges were filed after Investigator Donald Heck of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office determined that the three defendants conspired between Feb. 1 and April 11, 2012 to retaliate against the North Brunswick officer after he arrested an associate of Mr. Dotro on a charge of driving while intoxicated.
Mr. Dotro subsequently conspired with Mr. Aravena and Mr. Gesell to find ways to retaliate against the North Brunswick officer. No actual retaliation was ever undertaken, however, police said.
All three officers were released on their own recognizance in that case, the release said.