A New Jersey State Police Lieutenant, Ricardo Santos, 45, went through a breakup — but instead of doing the decent act of simply moving on, he started a campaign of harassing and controlling behavior toward his ex. Soon, he shot them both and took his own life at a nearby location — but what started out as a story of obsession is gradually turning into a story of widespread criticism of the police ranks as investigations continue.
Santos had been in a serious relationship with Lauren Semanchik, but under unclear circumstances, it ended in Sept. 2024. From that point on, Santos just never left her alone. On Aug. 2, Santos followed home Semanchik, who was at this point in a relationship with volunteer firefighter Tyler Webb.
The Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office has since revealed that Semanchik’s car had surveillance footage showing Santos’ personal Mercedes SUV following her home. And later on, when Webb joined Semanchik at her home, another camera showed a man standing in the woods next to Semanchik’s home in Franklin Township, NJ. Later that day, neighbors called 911 to report that they had just heard gunshots, and later on, Santos was found dead in the same Mercedes SUV that was caught in Semanchik’s car surveillance footage. Which certainly doesn’t help rehabilitate the sometimes questionable reputation of cops.
Crimes of passion are unfortunately quite commonplace in the world of crime. But what’s rare about this case is that prosecutors believe another member of the Franklin Township Police Department, Sgt. Kevin Bollaro, was slacking at the job at the time of the murder and they’re looking for him to be answerable.
In cases of shooting, every second counts. And in a climate where police are highly criticized for their actions on the job — for better or worse — nobody expects a mistake from them because of how many problems it might inadvertently cause.
Sgt. Bollaro had a bizarre approach to responding to the 911 call about the incident. The first call was made reporting gunshots and frantic screams, to which Bollaro acknowledged, but instead of immediately responding, he went the opposite direction to check his ATM.
There were two more calls, but Bollaro only decided to respond to one of the callers and left it at that. Later on, he reportedly decided to go for pizza. He’s now been placed on administrative leave until Nov. 5, when he will face charges of second-degree official misconduct.
According to People, Bollaro’s lawyers released a statement saying, “Evidence will show that there were delays in these 911 calls being made and dispatched. Sgt. Kevin Bollaro has faithfully served that community for nearly 25 years and is not guilty of anything related to this horrendous killing. This prosecution is unfortunate.”
Whether Bollaro’s actions were driven by laziness, a delay as his lawyers claim, or yet-to-be-declared reasons — one thing we can all agree is that this case is truly unfortunate. In two instances, the very people the community relies on to help them in case of danger at their doorstep have failed them. First through a trooper who overstepped his boundaries, and then through a sergeant who didn’t respond to a call for help.
