In Franklin Township, New Jersey, a police sergeant allegedly prioritized his rumbly tumbly over preventing a double murder that also had a police officer’s suicide tagged onto it at the end.
The Associated Press reports that on August 1, Sergeant Kevin Bollaro was the man in charge when 911 calls started lighting up dispatch with reports of shots fired. Obviously, this is the kind of thing cops are trained for.
But according to prosecutors, Bollaro didn’t gun it toward the danger. Instead, he drove miles in the opposite direction to make a pit stop at an ATM.
GPS and surveillance footage show that as residents begged for help, Bollaro cruised around without lights or sirens, then claimed that he didn’t hear anything about that as he drove straight into a local pizzeria called Duke’s, where he chilled for about an hour.
After that, he allegedly moved on to another restaurant.
U.S. Cop Charged After Getting Pizza Instead of Investigating a Murder
The next day, the bodies of Lauren Semanchik, 33, and Tyler Webb, 29, were found only 600 feet from that first 911 call. They’d been murdered by New Jersey State Police Lieutenant Ricardo Santos, who later turned the gun on himself.
A tragedy that may have played out differently if someone had shown up.
Prosecutors have since charged Bollaro with official misconduct and tampering with public records, accusing him of lying in his report about an investigation that never really happened. His lawyer calls the charges “unfortunate,” arguing that nothing Bollaro did or didn’t do could have changed the outcome.
The victims’ families are furious over Bollaro’s behavior, conduct, which they called “egregious,” and they feel represents a much deeper rot in local and state policing.
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