Lawsuit: NJ cops turned away, didn’t return voicemail of scared woman killed by her trooper ex

The families of Lauren Semanchik and Tyler Webb will sue local and State Police for failing to protect the victims from Semanchik's obsessive ex, a state trooper who killed the couple this month.

Lawyers for the victims’ families said police turned away Semanchik when she showed up in person and then failed to return her voicemail two months before the double slaying.

Semanchik had gone to the Franklin Township police department on a weekday morning in May to report State Police Sgt. Ricardo 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’s family said.

Read More: NJ seeks justice for Semanchik, Webb killings in police fallout

Lauren Semanchik and Tyler Webb slain at her home

On the evening of Friday, Aug. 1, three separate 911 calls came in to Franklin Township police, as neighbors described gunshots and disturbing screams.

Police said they found nothing that night.

It was Semanchik’s father who, the next day, made the horrific discovery of his 33-year-old daughter and her 29-year-old boyfriend.

By then, Santos had taken his own life over 30 miles away. His body was in his SUV at a Piscataway park.

The Semanchik and Webb families announced on Thursday they will be filing a lawsuit against the Franklin Township Police Department, the State Police “and others.”

The relatives are represented by attorneys David Mazie and Beth Baldinger, of the Roseland-based firm Mazie Slater Katz and Freeman.

The voicemail Semanchik left for police on Tuesday, May 20 at 10:38 a.m.

“Hi there, my name is Lauren Semanchik and I live at __ Upper Kingtown Road in Pittstown, New Jersey.

I was looking to file a police report or potentially even a restraining order against my ex-boyfriend who has been harassing me - he placed recording devices in my home - has continued to text me and call me, and then I just came out last night from work and my car had been keyed. And I have no idea who did it - but I don't have anybody else in my life with any animosity.

 

He's also a state trooper so I’m especially uncomfortable. I just stopped in the office but nobody was available, so the girl at the front desk gave me this number. If you could give me a call back when you have a moment, that would be great, my phone is ___. Thank You.”

911 calls on the night of the homicides

In all three 911 calls on Aug. 1, 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.

The callers seemed embarrassed or apologetic for reaching 911, but their gut feelings proved right.

Read More: Pittstown killings spark concerns about local police, 911 response 

While dispatchers assured the callers that a patrol officer was on the way to investigate, police reportedly turned up nothing.

The attorneys for the Semanchik and Webb families point out that police did not bother to turn up Semanchik's driveway to check on the property that the first 911 caller had described as just "down the hill."

Local police department under fire

Following the botched investigation, Franklin Township officials put the police chief and a second in command on administrative leave.

The Hunterdon County Prosecutor’s Office has assumed control of the Franklin Police Department.

As of Thursday, all law enforcement agencies have stopped short of confirming Santos as the killer.

Prosecutors shared evidence that Santos had stalked the beloved veterinarian, who he had dated for barely a year.

He followed her home on Aug. 1 and lurked in the woods outside her house until her new boyfriend arrived.

Read More: NJ couple is mourned as NJ state trooper's rampage is revealed

Hunterdon County Prosecutor Renée Robeson said that he was found dead inside the same SUV seen on dash camera video, following Semanchik home, her last day alive.

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.

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