UPDATE:

Edison police officer charged in firebomb attack appears in court

An Edison police officer with a history of disciplinary problems was charged today with five counts of attempted murder in the firebombing of a police supervisor’s house earlier this week, authorities announced tonight.

Michael Dotro, 35, a 10-year veteran of the Edison force, allegedly used an incendiary device to set fire to the Monroe Township home of Edison Capt. Mark Anderko, a top aide to Chief Thomas Bryan, while Anderko and his family slept inside around 4 a.m. Monday.

Anderko, his wife, his two young children and his 92-year-old mother all escaped unharmed. The two-story, colonial-style home was badly damaged, with the greatest concentration of fire at the front of the house where Anderko’s children slept.

Acting Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew Carey, who announced the charges in a statement, said the investigation was continuing and urged anyone with information to reach out to his office or to Monroe police.

Superior Court Judge Vincent LeBlon set bail at $5 million cash.

The officer’s longtime lawyer, Lawrence Bitterman, said he was stunned by the arrest.

“I find it utterly incomprehensible to believe that Mike, who I’ve known in his capacity as PBA representative, could ever be involved in anything like this,” Bitterman said. “I’ve spoken to him, and he adamantly denies any involvement and expresses his condolences to the Anderko family. He is sickened at the thought of someone doing this to a brother officer, or anyone else, for that matter.”

Bitterman confirmed investigators descended on Dotro’s Manalapan home with a search warrant this afternoon. He was arrested there a short time later. Dotro, who earns $118,000 annually, was immediately suspended with pay.

He was expected to be arraigned this afternoon. In addition to the attempted murder counts, Dotro is charged with aggravated arson.

The State Policemen’s Benevolent Association had previously offered a $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. In a statement last night, state PBA President Anthony Weiners said the agency offered the reward even in the face of “rumors” that a police officer was involved.

“The unsettling turn of events today does not alter our mission to hold those accountable for this attack,” Weiners said.

Authorities did not immediately disclose a motive in the case, but the Edison Police Department has been embroiled in a bitter civil war for several years. The strife was the subject of a two-part series in The Star-Ledger in December.

The newspaper reported that the department’s internal affairs unit had gathered information on politicians and other civilians and had allegedly failed to aggressively target officers accused of brutality. Dotro was a defendant in a handful of such complaints.

Edison Police Chief Thomas Bryan, seen here in 2012.

After publication of the series, the state Attorney General’s Office stepped up oversight of the internal affairs unit, tracking each investigation.

Dotro was no stranger to internal affairs.

He was one of the chief suspects in the 2008 theft of a police car from the department’s secure lot. Though believed to be a practical joke, the theft triggered a homeland security alert, drawing in the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Dotro and two other officers were initially planning to take responsibility for the theft but balked when they learned they would not be guaranteed light discipline, The Star-Ledger reported in December. He was not criminally charged.

In 2005, Dotro was at the center of tensions between the department and the township’s Asian-Indian community after arresting a man who accused him of brutality. Amid community protests and headlines, he was cleared.

Three years later, he had a fistfight with his 68-year-old neighbor, Dennis Sassa, who claimed the officer, then 31, punched him a half-dozen times after a dispute about a shed on Dotro’s Manalapan property. Both men filed assault charges in the case. Both were acquitted in municipal court.

Shortly before the fight, Sassa’s shed was set ablaze, with flames spreading to a camper and Sassa’s home. No one was charged in the case.

But the fire drew new interest from investigators looking into the firebombing of Anderko’s house on Monday.

Sassa, who has since moved from Manalapan, said in a telephone interview that three investigators, one of them with the homicide unit of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, visited him Wednesday to ask about his dispute with Dotro.

“They asked me about incidents that occurred at the time, and one of them was the fire with the shed,” Sassa said. “They were particularly interested in that.”

Bryan, the Edison police chief, and union representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Star-Ledger staff writer Sue Epstein contributed to this report.

RELATED COVERAGE

• $20K reward offered following firebombing of Edison cop's home

• Molotov cocktail may have been used to firebomb home of Edison cop, sources say

• Betraying the badge: Edison police produce astonishing record of misconduct

• Law and disorder: Edison's police force plagued by infighting, lawsuits



