Md. Police Officers Accused of Setting SUV on Fire for Insurance

A second police officer has been charged with setting an SUV on fire to obtain insurance money to buy a Cadillac Escalade, the Maryland State Fire Marshal’s Office said.

Elizabeth Lauren Anderson, 27, of Knoxville, was taken into custody about 11:20 a.m. Friday during a traffic stop in Brunswick, authorities said.

Anderson, who joined the Brunswick Police Department this year, was a passenger in a vehicle being driven by Randy Dorsey, the first police officer charged in the crime, said Frederick County Deputy State’s Attorney Charlie Smith.

The two police officers are dating, authorities said.

“The investigation revealed they had been shopping for the Escalade,” Smith said. “They signed a contract prior to the arson and took possession of the vehicle a couple days afterward.”

Dorsey, 37, a patrol sergeant with the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office, was arrested Sept. 15 and charged with second-degree arson and first-degree malicious burning, both felonies, authorities said.

The 12-year veteran is free on $30,000 bail.

Investigators charged Anderson with the same crimes, as well as fraud and conspiracy, said Deputy State Fire Marshal W. Faron Taylor.

She was released after appearing before a Frederick County District Court commissioner.