New Jersey cop allegedly ignored 911 calls, went out for pizza instead of responding to shooting | World News
The prosecutors have said that Bollaro didn’t activate his police vehicle’s emergency lights and sirens as he drove towards the caller’s location. (AP Photo/ Representational)
A New Jersey officer has landed in trouble after prosecutors have alleged that he didn’t respond to an emergency call quickly and also didn’t investigate reports of a shooting cum double murder, instead stopped at an ATM and a pizza parlour. The officer has been charged with misconduct, Associated Press reported.
According to Hunterdon County Prosecutor Renee Robeson’s office, the incident occurred on August 1 evening when the on-duty officer, Franklin Township Police Sergeant Kevin Bollaro, reportedly received 911 calls about gunshots and screaming in Pittstown, which is located 96 kilometers from Manhattan in central New Jersey.
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Instead of responding to emergency calls immediately, Sergeant Bollaro drove two miles in the opposite direction to the caller’s location to a bank ATM, prosecutors have claimed as per the GPS data and surveillance video. Before Bollaro proceeded to the caller’s location, dispatchers relayed other calls from concerned neighbors.
The prosecutors have said that Bollaro didn’t activate his police vehicle’s emergency lights and sirens as he drove towards the caller’s location. The officer, after reaching the location of the first caller, told the dispatcher that he didn’t hear anything and would continue to the other callers location.
However, the GPS data revealed that Sergeant Bollaro never visited those locations before he asked the dispatcher to clear him from the scene, Robeson’s office stated. The office said that Bollaro instead visited Duke’s Pizzeria in Pittstown, where he remained for an hour. Witnesses said that the sergeant was later spotted at another local restaurant, where he remained for roughly another hour, prosecutors said.
On August 2, about 600 metres from the location of the first caller, the bodies of Lauren Semanchik, 33, and Tyler Webb, 29, were found in a home. Authorities said the two were shot dead New Jersey State Police Lieutenant Ricardo Santos, who had later killed himself.
(with inputs from AP)
