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Aakash Dalal (MUGSHOT: Bergen County Prosecutor)
Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said his detectives also have charged Dalal in connection with a pair of bias graffiti incidents in Temple Beth Israel in Maywood and Temple Beth El in Hackensack.
The 5-foot-5-inch Dalal, a Rutgers University student living in New Brunswick, is being held on $2.5 million in the Bergen County Jail.
He is charged with four counts of aggravated arson, four counts of bias intimidation and two counts of criminal mischief and is scheduled for a first appearance Monday morning in Central Municipal Court in Hackensack.
Molinelli said authorities at first believed that Anthony Marco Graziano, 19, acted alone in two separate incidents and the planning of a third.
But a check of his computer turned up correspondence with Dalal, a childhood friend of Graziano’s, a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.
“He egged him on,” the source said. “He’d tell him, ‘Don’t do it this way. Do it this
Aakash Dalal with Ron Paul (published on CVP earlier today)way’.”
CLIFFVIEW PILOT received information pointing to Dalal early in the investigation and immediately notified Molinelli.
However, the prosecutor today said his detectives independently got onto Dalal’s trail based on a biased posting of his on a Jewish online site after the firebombings.
Graziano remains held on $2.5 million bail in the Bergen County Jail on nine counts of attempted murder, three counts of aggravated arson and three counts of bias intimidation.
The prosecutor said he believed the area was “weeks away” from another possible attack because Graziano had submitted paperwork in an attempt to buy a gun before he was arrested.
(MUGSHOT: Bergen County Prosecutor)
The original CLIFFVIEW PILOT story:
More firebombings of synagogues may have been planned
Wednesday, 25 January 2012 17:57 Jerry DeMarcoCLIFFVIEW PILOT EXCLUSIVE: Store-bought materials similar to those used in both the firebombing of a Rutherford rabbi’s home and an attempted arson at a Paramus synagogue were found outside another temple in Bergen County this week, raising the possibility that at least one other attack was planned, CLIFFVIEW PILOT has learned.
ALSO:
Third synagogue firebombing plot brings more charges
Friday, 27 January 2012 11:29 Jerry DeMarcoYOU READ IT HERE FIRST: Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli confirmed this morning that the 19-year-old man accused of firebombing a Rutherford rabbi’s home and igniting a small arson blaze outside a Paramus synagogue has been charged with a plot to torch a third target — in an incident first disclosed on CLIFFVIEW PILOT.
Prosecutor: Manhunt in synagogue attacks leads to lone teen with bike, backpack, bombs
Tuesday, 24 January 2012 19:06 Jerry DeMarcoCLIFFVIEW PILOT HAD IT FIRST: Investigators have charged a 19-year-old loner eclipsed by the shadow of his military serviceman brother in connection with the Jan. 11 firebombing of a Rutherford rabbi’s home and a Jan. 3 arson at a Paramus synagogue. Bail for Anthony Marco Graziano of Lodi is $5 million.
Rutherford rabbi turns firebomb into seeds of love
Saturday, 21 January 2012 19:10 Richard E. Schultz
AN OFFICER WRITES: The coward who firebombed the home of Rabbi Rosson Schuman and his family failed to produce the terror, silence or cries for vengeance that such incendiary devices are meant for. No. The hateful act offered the Rutherford rabbi an opportunity to deliver a message that is as important now as ever.
READ MORE….
Authorities confirm arrest in firebombing of Rutherford rabbi’s home
Tuesday, 24 January 2012 11:07 Jerry DeMarcoCLIFFVIEW PILOT SCOOP: A massive search of a Lodi home last night led to the arrest of a suspect in the firebombing of a Rutherford rabbi’s home, a law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation told CLIFFVIEW PILOT. One of the pieces of evidence: Orange Crush soda.
Man wanted for questioning in Rutherford firebombing
Thursday, 19 January 2012 15:28 Jerry DeMarcoCLIFFVIEW PILOT HAS IT FIRST: Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli on Friday authorized the release of what were investigatory images obtained by CLIFFVIEW PILOT of a man buying hair spray, bottles, duct tape and other materials at the Wal-Mart on Route 46 in Saddle Brook that were used in the pre-dawn firebombing of a Rutherford rabbi’s home. There’s a reward for anyone who can lead authorities to him.
READ MORE….
Bias attacks prompt unprecedented Bergen County 24-hour joint patrols
Friday, 13 January 2012 17:57 Jerry DeMarcoYOU READ IT HERE FIRST: Bergen County’s top public safety leaders each told CLIFFVIEW PILOT that unprecedented 24-hour patrols of Bergen County’s religious and ethnic community facilities will continue for the indefinite future, amid a manhunt for whoever is responsible for throwing a Molotov cocktail through the window of a Rutherford rabbi’s bedroom.
READ MORE….
Arsonists targeted Rutherford rabbi with Molotov cocktails, authorities believe
Wednesday, 11 January 2012 11:26 Jerry DeMarcoEXCLUSIVE REPORT: The FBI has entered an investigation into a pair of what are now believed to be related attacks on Jewish temples in Bergen County, the most serious occurring early this morning when one of four or five Molotov cocktails crashed through the bedroom window of a rabbi who lives upstairs from his Rutherford synagogue with his wife and five children, CLIFFVIEW PILOT has learned.
READ MORE….
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