Officers charged in an alleged plot
Four on the Edison, N.J., force allegedly conspired against an officer from another township.
EDISON, N.J. - Four police officers have been indicted on charges that they conspired to retaliate against an officer from another department because he arrested an Edison officer's relative for alleged drunken driving.
The indictment recently handed up by a Middlesex County grand jury alleges that in early 2012, the four Edison officers improperly accessed information about a North Brunswick officer and performed surveillance on him and his travel habits. But prosecutors say there was no actual retaliation.
The four officers - Michael Dotro, Victor Aravena, William Gesell, and Brian Favretto - all face conspiracy and official misconduct charges, along with other individual counts. All four have been suspended without pay, and it was not known Sunday whether any of them had retained an attorney.
In a separate indictment also made public Friday, Dotro and his wife were charged with conspiracy, criminal mischief, and official misconduct. Dotro also faces several other counts in the indictment, which stems from incidents last year in which Dotro allegedly bought marijuana while in uniform, conspired to sell the drug, slashed a woman's tires, and illegally accessed the police department's records database for personal use.
Dotro and his wife also face charges stemming from a May 2013 firebomb attack at the home of his police captain. Dotro is charged with five counts of attempted murder, aggravated arson, and other charges in that case, and his wife was charged with hindering her husband's apprehension for allegedly lying to investigators about him.