A 25-year-old man entered an open plea on Thursday, Sept. 29, to attempted murder and related charges for shooting Yardley Police Chief Joseph Kelly and attempting to shoot a Bucks County Adult Probation and Parole Officer, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office said.
Colin Frank Petroziello, of Yardley, appeared in Bucks County before President Judge Wallace H. Bateman Jr. and entered a no contest plea to firing a shotgun at Chief Kelly who was assisting a Bucks County probation officer on an offender check at the Yardley Commons Condominiums on Aug. 18, 2021.
Kelly suffered injuries to his ear and hand. After the shooting, Petroziello barricaded himself and his mother inside his apartment at 806 Yardley Commons. He was taken into custody after a more than four-hour standoff.
Petroziello pleaded to attempted homicide of a law enforcement officer, two counts of attempted murder, six counts of aggravated assault, and one count each of assault of a law enforcement officer, persons not to possess a firearm, false imprisonment, recklessly endangering another person and possession of an instrument of crime. Sentencing was deferred for 90 days.
Because one of the victims was a Bucks County Adult Probation and Parole Officer, a pre-sentence investigation will be conducted by Lehigh County authorities.
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