New Jersey Cop Chooses Pizza Over Murder Investigation While 911 Calls Pour In

When duty called, this sergeant went for pepperoni instead.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:11):
I'm Darren Marler, and this is weird dark News. On
the evening of August first, twenty twenty five, Franklin Township
Police Sergeant Kevin Blaro faced a choice that would define
his career. Respond immediately to multiple nine one one calls
reporting gunshots and screaming, or make a slight detour to
check his bank balance. He picked the ATM. Neighbors in

(00:34):
Pittstown were calling nine to one one with reports of
gunshots and screaming. Dispatchers relayed these calls to Blero, who was,
according to GPS data, driving nearly two miles in the
opposite direction. His first stop a bank ATM. Perhaps he
needed cash for what came next spoiler it was pizza.
The sergeant then proceeded toward the caller's locations without activating

(00:58):
his emergency lights or sirens. Speed limits still applied, apparently
even when people were potentially bleeding. When he arrived at
the first caller's location, Balero reported hearing nothing and told
dispatch that he'd checked the other locations. Prosecutors say GPS
date approves he never actually visited those other addresses before
asking dispatch to clear him from the scene. After his

(01:20):
abbreviated investigation of exactly one location. Balero headed straight to
Duke's Pizzeria in Pittstown. He stayed for nearly an hour.
We don't know what he ordered. We don't know if
he ate it in or took it to go. We
know he was there inside of pizzeria for approximately sixty
minutes while two bodies lay dead six hundred feet from

(01:41):
where somebody had called nine to one one about gunshots
and screaming the mozzarella must have been exceptional. Witnesses then
saw him park at another local restaurant, where he remained
for roughly another hour. Two restaurants two hours zero additional
investigation into the gunshot and screaming that multiple people had

(02:02):
reported at least he was thorough about his dining options
during his two hour culinary expedition. Balero later submitted a
report claiming he was canvassing the area. GPS data revealed
that he was already driving toward Duke's Pizzeria during the
timeframe he said that he was investigating. Prosecutors charged him

(02:22):
with tampering with public records for these false statements. On
August second, police discovered the bodies of Lawrence Simchik thirty
three and Tyler Webb twenty nine, in a home roughly
six hundred feet from the first nine to one to
one callers location. That's about the length of two football
fields or six average city blocks, close enough that if

(02:42):
somebody screamed during the murders, the neighbors who called nine
to one one probably heard it directly. The victims had
been shot to death by New Jersey State Police Lieutenant
Ricardo Santos, who then killed himself. The state police lieutenant
committed a double murder while a township police sergeant was
deciding between restaurants your tax dollars at work, New Jersey.

(03:03):
The families of the victims stated they were shocked at
Sergeant Blarro's egregious conduct and believe it represents problems beyond
just this one officer's decisions. When your local police department's
response to a double murder involves an ATM stop and
a pizza break, residents start questioning whether the property taxes
are worth it. That pizza better be incredible. Blaro now

(03:26):
faces charges of official misconduct for knowingly refraining from performing
his duties, plus tampering with public records for the false
statements in his report, he's duing court November fifth, That
would be tomorrow, where one assumes he'll skip the pre
trial snacks. His attorney, Charles Sciarra, called the charges unfortunate
and maintained that nothing Bellero did or didn't do that

(03:47):
day could have stopped the killings. That defense relies on
the assumption that police officers showing up to active crime
scenes serves no purpose whatsoever. That's a bold strategy. The
Franklin Township Police Department has not commented on whether they've
revised their response protocols. One hopes the new training manual
includes a section titled respond to Murders before Lunch. Apparently

(04:11):
some departments need that spelled out. Perhaps they could laminate
it and post it next to the dispatch radio right
above the Duke's Pizzeria menu. If you'd like to read
the story for yourself or share the article with a friend,
you can read it on the Weird Darkness website. I've
placed a link to it in the episode description, and
you can find more stories of the paranormal, true crime,
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(04:32):
to the podcast, at Weirddarkness dot com. Slash News