🚔 Sgt. charged with misconduct in botched response to Franklin double killing
🚔State Police trooper gunned down Lauren Semanchik and Tyler Webb and took off
⚖️ Victims’ families’ lawyer calls case “ tip of the iceberg” in police failures

FRANKLIN (Hunterdon) — Nearly three months after a beloved veterinarian and her boyfriend were gunned down by a disgruntled state trooper, a local police officer has been charged with mishandling his response.

Lauren Semanchik and Tyler Webb were both shot and killed by a semiautomatic gun in a targeted act by State Police Lt. Ricardo Santos, Hunterdon County Prosecutor Renée Robeson said for the first time publicly on Thursday.

Santos later took his own life and was found in a Middlesex County park, over 30 miles away.

Franklin Police Sgt. Kevin Bollaro has been suspended since early August alongside Chief Timothy Snyder, when Robeson’s office began overseeing the township police department.

It was now confirmed that Bollaro was the patrol officer on the night of the killings. He is facing charges of second-degree official misconduct and records tampering, a disorderly persons offense.

Franklin Police chief suspended over botched double homicide investigation (HCPO, Google Maps Canva)

Franklin Police chief suspended over botched double homicide investigation (HCPO, Google Maps Canva)

Bollaro’s defense attorney calls the accusations “unfortunate” because his client is “not guilty of anything related to this horrendous killing.”

“A woman and her friend were tragically killed in a domestic violence incident and we have only wishes for peace and strength for those families. However, nothing Kevin Bollaro did or did not do that day impacted or could have stopped that tragedy in any way,” Defense attorney Charles Sciarra said in a written statement to New Jersey 101.5 on Friday.

He said the evidence will show that Bollaro, who has worked in the community for 25 years, “canvassed the area thoroughly.” Sciarra’s full statement can be read further below in this story.

Meanwhile, the law firm representing the families of both homicide victims said this is likely one of many failures by “local and state police” that led to the killings.

“The Semanchik and Webb families are shocked at Sgt. Bollaro’s egregious conduct as charged by the Hunterdon County Prosecutor. We believe this to be the tip of the iceberg of the many failures by the local and state police which will be uncovered and which led to the murders of Lauren and Tyler,” Attorney David Mazie said to New Jersey 101.5, in a statement also received on Friday.

Read More: Neighbors called 911 as couple was killed — and NJ trooper got away

Franklin Township area of double killing in August

Franklin Police Sgt. charged for misconduct in 911 response (Google maps, Townsquare Media Illustration)

Police Sgt. went to bank ATM before 911 call response

Prosecutors have said that Bollaro ran a personal bank errand before even responding to the first of three separate 911 calls, describing shots and screaming around 7 p.m. on Aug. 1.

It took 17 minutes for Bollaro to arrive at the home of the first caller, according to GPS data.

The call from a neighbor on Upper Kington Road was less than 600 feet away, or 0.1 mile from Semanchik’s home, along the same road.

By then, the other two 911 calls had come in.

Three different women who lived in Semanchik’s rural neighborhood described how gunshots and screams rang out so loudly and eerily that it moved them to call for help.

Bollaro asked to be cleared from the scene by 7:40 p.m. and then drove off, first to a local pizza place, then a tavern, and then a cemetery.

Bollaro’s shift ended around 7 a.m.the next day.

Around 12:30 p.m. on Aug. 2 — over 17 hours after the flurry of three 911 calls — Semanchik’s father found the bodies of his slain daughter and Webb, and called 911.

It was not until later Saturday that the 45-year-old Santos was found dead of apparent suicide in his SUV, in Johnson Park in Piscataway.

New Brunswick Today reported police at the park, milling around the SUV, around 5:30 p.m.

Read More: Families of NJ couple slain in Franklin by stalker ex are suing police 

NJ couple killed in senseless domestic violence rampage mourned (Lauren Semanchik Tyler Webb via Facebook

NJ couple killed in senseless domestic violence rampage mourned (Lauren Semanchik, Tyler Webb via Facebook)

Failure to return Semanchik call about stalking also raises concern

In late August, Mazie and his Roseland-based firm Mazie Slater Katz and Freeman announced the Semanchik and Webb families would be suing local and state police.

Lawyers for the victims’ families said police turned away Semanchik, when she showed up in person to ask about a restraining order against her obsessive ex.

Semanchik had gone to the Franklin Township police department on a weekday morning in May to report Santos’ behavior.

After being told no one was available to speak, she left a detailed voice message, reporting the escalating harassment and giving her exact address.

She asked for someone to call her back. No one did, the Semanchik family said.

The attorneys have also said that Semanchik had reported her concerns to a “female state trooper who worked with Santos.”

It was unclear whether that trooper was of a superior rank to Santos.

Other than a brief statement on Aug. 4, extending “sincerest sympathy to the victims’ families,” the state Attorney General’s Office, which oversees State Police, has made no further comment on the case.

Full statement from Bollaro defense attorney

“A women and her friend were tragically killed in a domestic violence incident and we have only wishes for peace and strength for those families. However, nothing Kevin Bollaro did or did not do that day impacted or could have stopped that tragedy in any way.

Thankfully, the probable cause statement made by the Prosecutor’s office does not attempt to allege any such connection. It is however a time honored tradition to look for blame when tragedy strikes and with the killer ending his own life in this case, the wide net is being cast.”

“I do not comment on other matters being investigated. But with regard to Sgt. Bollaro, the evidence will show that there were delays in these 911 calls being made and dispatched. The evidence will show that shots fired calls of this nature are a regular occurrence in this community, especially as hunting season is approaching.

The evidence will show there are no practice or policies about putting on lights and sirens and responding at high speeds to such calls. The evidence will show that Sgt. Bollaro talked to someone who made a call. The evidence will show he canvassed the area thoroughly.

Sgt. Kevin Bollaro has faithfully served that community for nearly 25 years is not guilty of anything related to this horrendous killing. This prosecution is unfortunate.”

– Charles J. Sciarra, attorney for Sgt. Bollaro

Previous coverage of the Pittstown double killing:

🔴 NJ cop charged with stopping at ATM before tragic double killing 

🔴 Families of NJ couple slain in Franklin by stalker ex are suing police 

🔴 Pittstown killings spark concerns about police action, 911 call response

🔴 NJ seeks justice for Semanchik, Webb killings in police fallout

🔴 NJ couple is mourned as NJ state trooper’s rampage is revealed

🔴 NJ mourns couple killed, victim’s trooper ex then takes own life

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