When Bucks County Adult Probation and Parole Officer Cristina Viviano went on an offender check at the Yardley Common Condominiums on Aug. 18, 2021, something did not feel right, so she radioed dispatchers for a status check if she’s not heard from in five minutes.
It was the first time she had ever done that in more than 9,000 offender visits and her instincts proved correct. Yardley Police Chief Joseph Kelly responded to her request, and his quick-thinking and bravery saved not only Viviano’s life, but also his own, after Colin Petroziello fired a shotgun through a door, striking the police chief’s hand and ear.
“Chief Kelly, you are my hero,” Viviano said Monday, Feb. 6, 2023, during Petroziello’s sentencing hearing. “I am standing here because of you.”
Viviano and Kelly appeared before President Judge Wallace H. Bateman Jr. to testify about the day they both came under fire during that fateful day at the condominium complex and how their lives and the lives of their families were impacted.
After hearing from both of Viviano, Kelly and Kelly’s daughter, who said she continues to have nightmares about the day she almost lost her father, Bateman sentenced Petroziello to 15 to 30 years in a state correctional institution. He also ordered him to undergo probation for 15 years once he’s done serving his time and pay $43,782.18 in restitution.