A Rhode Island police officer who was off-duty and out of uniform when he shot the driver of an 18-year-old car he had seen speeding by on the highway was acquitted by a jury Thursday of various charges.
Pawtucket Officer Daniel Dolan, 40, was acquitted of three counts of felony assault and one count of discharge of a firearm in committing a crime of violence in connection with the encounter in West Greenwich on June 23, 2021.
According to an investigation, Dolan was returning from a detailed assignment when he came across a speeding Audi sedan on Interstate 95 in West Greenwich.
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The vehicles left the road and Dolan approached the driver of the Audi outside a pizza parlor, where the driver and two teenage passengers intended to buy a pizza to eat while watching an NBA playoff game.
As the operator of the Audi tried to drive away, Dolan fired a round from his service weapon, striking the driver in the arm. The other teens were not injured.
Surveillance video from the pizzeria shows an unmarked white van next to the Audi. A man in civilian clothes gets out of the van, holding up what appears to be a license plate. The Audi backs up and the shooting occurs off camera.
A former Pawtucket, Rhode Island police officer has been cleared of charges stemming from a 2021 shooting.
Dolan said on the stand during the trial that he thought the car, which was going over 100 mph, was running from police and showing disregard for human life. He said he approached the car to have a “father talk” with the occupants about dangerous driving. His lawyer said he was in “serious danger” of being run over.
“He always tried to do what he believed was right, as he has been doing for 16 years, first as a soldier, now as a police officer,” Dolan’s attorney, Michael Colucci, said after the verdict.
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Prosecutors said Dolan was standing to the side of the car, not in front, and the bullet went through the driver’s side window.
The driver of the car, Dominic Vincent, now 20, testified that he did not know if Dolan was really a police officer and if his license plate was real.
“They let him get away,” the teen’s mother, Lisa Vincent, said outside.
The state attorney general, Peter Neronha, said he was disappointed.
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“The Attorney General respects our criminal justice system and accepts the jury’s verdict. He understands the deep disappointment of the family, which he shares,” his office said in a statement.
