FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, N.J. (Somerset County) — A Franklin Township police sergeant has been indicted on an official misconduct charge following an investigation into the department’s response to 911 calls made the night before two people were found shot to death in Pittstown, authorities said.
Hunterdon County Prosecutor Renée M. Robeson announced that a Hunterdon County grand jury returned an indictment June 25 against Franklin Township Police Sgt. Kevin Bollaro.
Bollaro was indicted on one count of second-degree official misconduct. Prosecutors allege Bollaro knowingly refrained from performing his police duties with the purpose of obtaining a benefit.
The indictment stems from an investigation connected to the Aug. 2, 2025, deaths of Lauren Semanchik, 33, of Pittstown, and Tyler Webb, 29, of Forked River. Franklin Township police officers responded around 12:30 p.m. that day to a 911 call reporting an unconscious woman with visible trauma at 39 Upper Kingtown Road in the Pittstown section of Franklin Township.
Officers found Semanchik and Webb dead with apparent gunshot wounds from a semiautomatic firearm. Investigators later determined the killings were a targeted act by New Jersey State Police Lt. Ricardo Santos, who is now deceased, according to the prosecutor’s office.
As part of the homicide investigation, the Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office also reviewed the Franklin Township Police Department’s response to three separate 911 calls made around 7 p.m. Aug. 1, 2025, in which callers reported gunshots and screaming in the area of White Bridge and Upper Kingtown roads.
Prosecutors said dispatchers alerted Bollaro, who was the duty officer, about the nature of the calls. Bollaro acknowledged the calls but allegedly drove in the opposite direction to conduct a personal ATM transaction in Clinton Township, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Bollaro arrived at the location of the first 911 caller about 17 minutes after he was first alerted by a dispatcher, authorities said.
The prosecutor’s office said Bollaro failed to activate his body-worn camera, thoroughly canvass the area surrounding the calls and speak with the other two callers. About 12 minutes passed from the time Bollaro arrived at the first caller’s location until he cleared his investigative involvement, authorities said.
GPS records and surveillance footage showed that after clearing the calls, Bollaro spent substantial portions of his shift at Duke’s Pizzeria, the Pittstown Inn and Locust Grove Cemetery, and did not return to the locations of the calls, according to prosecutors.
A post-indictment arraignment conference is scheduled for July 10 before Superior Court Judge Christopher J. Garrenger.
Second-degree charges can carry a prison term of five to 10 years and a fine of up to $150,000.
