Colin Frank Petroziello pleaded no contest in Bucks County Court in Doylestown on Sept. 29 to attempted murder and related charges connected to his wounding of Yardley Borough Police Chief Joseph D. Kelly III during an Aug. 18, 2021 shooting incident at Yardley Commons Condominiums where Petroziello lived.
No contest means Petroziello, 25, does not specifically admit crimes but does not contest the facts of the case as laid out by law enforcement authorities, officials explained at the hearing held before Judge Wallace H. Bateman Jr. Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Schorn also conceded that Petroziello, who has been in Bucks County Prison since being taken into custody after the incident, is mentally ill.
“Guilty but mentally ill,” was a phrase she used during some of her remarks at the hearing.
Sentencing was deferred and will likely happen in roughly 90 days, officials added. Petroziello’s attorney A, Charles Peruto didn’t comment after the hearing.
Bateman said the maximum sentences on the three counts of attempted murder are 40 years in prison for each count.
“Those are maximums, that doesn’t necessarily mean that is what the sentence will be,” the judge said.
“I am encouraged by today’s outcome,” said Kelly, who attended Thursday’s hearing. “We are moving closer to justice. I would like to thank the Bucks County District Attorney’s office and detectives for their outstanding work and cooperation.”
Kelly suffered injuries to his left hand and left ear during the incident and said after Thursday’s hearing it’s unlikely he will ever regain full use of his left hand.
The chief was assisting a county probation officer with an offender check on Petroziello and they had knocked on the front door of his condo unit and identified themselves as law enforcement officers when, according to court documents, Petroziello fired a shotgun blast through the front door of his condo unit, causing the injuries to Kelly.
Petroziello then barricaded himself in the condo with his mother Ann and was taken into custody after a four-hour standoff. Before that, Ann managed to throw the shotgun out a window and escaped out the same window.
During an extensive interview with reporters after the hearing, Colin’s father Guy Petroziello said it has been a years-long struggle to get his son the help he needs with his mental issues.
“I hope he lands in a place where he gets help,” Guy said of the pending sentence. “It’s very hard for families with mentally ill loved ones to get the help they need. It has been extremely exhausting and frustrating. The mental health system in this country is inadequate. You don’t seem to get the help you need until a tragedy occurs.”
He added that Colin is on five psychotropic drugs at the prison and in the last year “has been a completely different person.”
Schorn said during the hearing that Ann Petroziello knew her son was armed when the probation officer was coming but failed to warn the officer of that fact via text or other means. Ann denied that assertion after the hearing.
“We were stunned to hear that said in court,” she said.
In response to Schorn’s statement during the hearing that intoxication played a role in the incident, Ann Petroziello said her son only started drinking after firing the shot.
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