A Yardley man entered a no-contest plea to shooting the town’s police chief during a standoff

A Yardley man pleaded no contest Thursday to firing a shotgun at the Bucks County town’s police chief during a standoff last summer, wounding him.

Colin Petroziello, 24, entered the plea to attempted murder, aggravated assault, and related crimes during a hearing in Doylestown before President Judge Wallace H. Bateman.

Prosecutors, led by First Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Schorn, retained a doctor who said Petroziello’s history of mental issues, combined with his intoxication of alcohol and prescription medication on the day of the shooting, prevented him from “appreciating the wrongfulness of his conduct.”

Petroziello said little during the hearing. His attorney, A. Charles Peruto Jr., asked for the sentencing in the case to be deferred 90 days, a request the judge granted.

After the hearing, Petroziello’s father, Guy, told reporters his son has been diagnosed with autism, Asperger’s disease, anxiety disorders, and a host of other issues that have plagued him since middle school. He said his son had struggled to keep jobs. The condo in Yardley was an attempt by his parents to provide him with a safe living space, to prevent him, as his father said, from “ending up on the street.”

In the weeks before the shooting, Guy Petroziello said, his son was extremely paranoid, warning him about armed men hiding in the bushes outside. And on the day of the shooting, his father said, Petroziello told his parents he was convinced that armed men were coming to take him away.

“That was his state of mind, and my hope is he lands in a place where he can get help,” his father said.

Petroziello’s parole officer, Christina Viviano, was called to his unit at the Yardley Commons apartment complex in August 2021 to perform a wellness check, according to the affidavit of probable cause for Petroziello’s arrest. It was to be the first time Viviano would meet with Petroziello, who was under the department’s supervision after pleading guilty to summary domestic assault against his father.

Unsure of how Petroziello would react to her visit, Viviano called emergency dispatchers and told them to send backup to her location if they didn’t hear from her in five minutes, according to Schorn, the prosecutor. On her way to the appointment, Viviano received a text from Petroziello’s mother, asking when she would arrive, but failing to mention that her son was armed, Schorn said. (Petroziello’s mother has said she did not know then that her son was armed.)

When Viviano arrived, she heard banging and arguing, and radioed for backup, fearful that another domestic dispute was unfolding inside, the prosecutor said.

One of the officers who responded was Police Chief Joseph Kelly, who happened to be nearby at the time.

» READ MORE: The Yardley man who shot at police had barricaded his mother inside his apartment for hours, authorities say

When Kelly arrived, he looked through a window in the complex’s front door and saw Petroziello lying prone on the landing of a staircase, pointing a Mossberg .12 gauge shotgun toward him, prosecutors said. Without warning, Petroziello opened fire, hitting Kelly in his ear and left hand.

Kelly was taken to St. Mary Medical Center, where he was treated and released days later. Meanwhile, the standoff with Petroziello lasted another 3½ hours, causing evacuations from local businesses and panic in the town.

Eventually, Petroziello’s mother called police to say he had fallen asleep in his bedroom, prosecutors said. She handed them the gun through a window, and they later came inside and took him into custody.

He had another gun, a fully-loaded .45 caliber pistol, tucked into his waistband, Schorn said Thursday. Petroziello was unable to legally possess guns because he had been involuntarily committed to a mental institution twice, in 2012 and 2020.

Schorn, speaking after the hearing, commended county detectives for their thorough investigation, and called Kelly and the probation officer two of the bravest people she had encountered during her career.

Meanwhile, Petroziello’s father told reporters he had no idea where his son had purchased either of the guns seized by police. Choking back tears, the elder Petroziello expressed frustration at how difficult it had been to find treatment for his son.

“The mental health system in this country is completely inadequate, and it’s confusing, especially for families who are just trying to get people help,” he said.