New Jersey Sergeant Faces 10 Years in Prison After Skipping Emergency Call To Withdraw Cash at Bank

A New Jersey police officer is facing possible prison time on charges that he detoured to grab some cash from an ATM before responding to a call for what turned out to be a double homicide.Franklin Township Police Sergeant Kevin Bollaro is charged with official misconduct and tampering with records over his handling of a series of service calls on August 1 — the night before veterinarian Lauren Semanchik and her firefighter boyfriend, Tyler Webb, were found murdered, according to Patch.Authorities say Semanchik’s ex, a New Jersey state trooper, killed the couple before committing suicide.Mr. Bollaro was patrolling the Hunterdon County township when he received a call from dispatch that gunshots and screaming had been reported to 911 at Upper Kingtown Road at Pittstown around 7 p.m. Data from his GPS showed that rather than race to the scene, he drive 1.5 miles in the other direction to a bank in nearby Clinton Township where he made a personal transaction at the drive-through ATM. Five minutes after the first call, a second caller on White Bridge Road reported gunshots and screaming. Dispatch relayed the call to the sergeant who acknowledged it while using the ATM.He then headed towards the two locations without activating the patrol car’s lights and sirens, according to a timeline shared with the local news site by the Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office.After a brief conversation with the caller at Upper Kingtown Road, he told dispatch that he did not hear anything in the area and was moving on to the second address. It’s unclear how long he spoke to the caller because he did not turn on his body camera.Mr. Bollaro’s GPS showed that he proceeded to White Bridge Road but did not stop to investigate, opting instead to slowly drive through the neighborhood before asking dispatch officers to be cleared from the scene.He then drove to a nearby pizzeria where he spent nearly an hour before heading to the Pittstown Inn where he socialized with patrons, witnesses told investigators.Mr. Bollaro is also alleged to have filed a false report, saying that he was “unable to make contact with the caller from White Bridge Road.”The following day, the bodies of Semanchik and Webb were found at the first location Mr. Bollaro was dispatched to. They were murdered in cold blood by Ricardo Jorge Santos, a sergeant first class with the New Jersey State Police, who was enraged at being dumped by Semanchik.Mr. Bollaro is charged with second-degree official misconduct for knowingly refraining from performing his police duties with purpose to obtain a personal benefit, and for falsifying his police report. He’s scheduled to appear in court November 5 and faces five to 10 years in prison and up to $150,000 in fines on the felony charge, plus up to six months and $1,000 on the tampering charge.Investigations into the murders and into Franklin Township Police operations and personnel remain ongoing. The prosecutor’s office has overseen the department since August 7.

New Jersey Sergeant Faces 10 Years in Prison After Skipping Emergency Call To Withdraw Cash at Bank

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