Md. Deputy Sheriff Indicted on Arson Charge

A Frederick County, Maryland sheriff’s deputy has been indicted on a charge of second-degree arson for allegedly burning his girlfriend’s sport-utility vehicle in what investigators have said was an insurance scam.

Sgt. Theodore Randolph “Randy” Dorsey, 37, has an initial appearance scheduled Dec. 11 in Frederick County Circuit Court, according to court records. He remains on leave without pay from his job as leader of a patrol team.

In a related move, prosecutors have filed a motion to dismiss charges of arson, fraud and conspiracy against Dorsey’s live-in girlfriend, former Brunswick police officer Elizabeth Lauren Anderson, 28, according to Frederick County District Court records. Anderson’s attorney, Jonathan Katz, declined to comment on whether Anderson would testify against Dorsey.

Anderson’s case was scheduled for a preliminary hearing this past Monday afternoon in Frederick County District Court, but neither she, her attorney nor a special prosecutor, Montgomery County Assistant State’s Attorney John D. Lalos, showed up.

Lalos didn’t return telephone calls from The Associated Press.

Dorsey was charged Sept. 15 with second-degree arson and first-degree malicious burning for a fire that damaged Anderson’s 2005 Chevrolet TrailBlazer sport-utility vehicle Sept. 2. The arson charge sustained by the Frederick County grand jury Friday carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $30,000 fine.

Anderson was charged Sept. 29 on allegations that she and Dorsey set fire to the vehicle to get insurance money to buy a Cadillac Escalade. Anderson was charged with second-degree arson, malicious burning, fraud and conspiracy.

“The investigation revealed they had been shopping for the Escalade,” Frederick County Deputy State’s Attorney J. Charles Smith said after her arrest. “They signed a contract prior to the arson and took possession of the vehicle a couple days afterward.”