A Franklin Township police sergeant has been charged with official misconduct and tampering with public records after failing to respond to multiple 911 calls hours before New Jersey State Police Lt. Ricardo Santos allegedly shot and killed a former girlfriend and the man she had been dating.
Hunterdon County Prosecutor Renée M. Robeson said that internal and criminal investigations were conducted, and the charges against Kevin Bollaro revealed a series of troubling actions and falsified police reports, including stopping at an ATM on his way to respond to the emergency call – and spending about fifty minutes at a local pizzeria, and then, roughly 57 minutes at a local tavern, the Pittstown Inn, “engaging socially with patrons according to witnesses.” Prosecutors say he spent about five hours of his shift at a local cemetery.
“The public deserves accountability from those sworn to protect them,” said Robeson. “Our duty is to ensure that law enforcement officers meet the highest standards of integrity and diligence.”
Santos, a member of the elite executive protection unit that protects the governor and other top state officials, is believed to have murdered Lauren Semanchik, a 33-year-old Pittstown veterinarian, and volunteer firefighter Tyler Webb, 29, with a semiautomatic firearm. Investigators say it was a targeted act. Santos later took his own life.
The double murders weren’t discovered until 12:22 PM the next day.
According to the prosecutor’s office, a 911 call came in around 7:08 PM from an individual who reported gunshots and screaming. That was relayed to Bollaro, who acknowledged the transmission.
But instead of responding immediately, GPS and surveillance footage show Bollaro drove 1.5 miles in the opposite direction to conduct a personal ATM transaction. During that time, police received a second call, also reporting gunshots and screaming. The prosecutor claims Bollaro departed the bank and proceeded to Semanchik’s home “without activating his emergency lights and sirens.
A third call came in about five minutes after the second call.
“Approximately eight minutes later, GPS data located Bollaro at 41 Upper Kingtown Road, presumably where he was speaking with the first caller for approximately four to six minutes. However, because Bollaro failed to activate his body-worn camera, the precise length of this interaction is unknown,” a statement noted. “From the time of the first dispatch transmission to Bollaro to when he arrived at 41 Upper Kingtown Road, approximately 17 minutes transpired.”
GPS data showed that after briefly checking Upper Kingtown Road, Sgt. Bollaro told dispatch he heard nothing and would move to White Bridge Road. Within two minutes of arriving there around 7:38 p.m., his vehicle left the area, and by 7:40 p.m., he asked to be cleared from the call. Investigators later determined he never spoke to the second or third 9-1-1 callers and only drove partway down White Bridge Road without stopping.
Overall, Bollaro’s on-scene activity lasted about 12 minutes. The homicide location—39 Upper Kingtown Road—was just 562 feet from the first caller’s home, roughly 0.7 miles from the second, and 857 feet from the third.
The prosecutor’s office alleges that Bollaro “spent approximately five consecutive hours of his duty shift — from approximately 11:27 p.m. until 4:33 a.m. — at Locust Grove Cemetery, during which he recorded no law enforcement activity.”
Santos had reportedly harassed Semanchik, who reported that to local police and attempted to file a restraining order. The victim’s mother, Jennine Semanchik, said she contacted the State Police.
“She was failed by every single law enforcement agency that she went to for help,” the New York Times reported the mother as saying.
The prosecutor’s office took over operational control of the Franklin Township Police Department on August 7.
