WARWICK – At the request of the prosecutor, 20-year-old Dominic Vincent removed his red shirt in Superior Court on Wednesday to show jurors the scar on his body. hand that exploded with a .40 caliber bullet, fired by an off-duty police officer. his humerus one summer evening in 2021.
The outcome of Vincent’s meeting with Pawtucket patrolman Daniel Dolan seemed clear. But the jury failed to hear two other different explanations as to why it happened.
Dolan, 40, Vincent is facing four felony counts of illegal shooting as he and two friends pulled into a West Greenwich pizzeria to pick up their “meat lover” pie before a night of basketball.
In opening remarks to the jury, said Asst. Atty said. Chief Daniel Guglielmo, head of the agency’s human rights division, described Dolan as a vigilante on that evening of June 23, 2021, who committed the dangerous situation that caused the Vincent’s injuries.
Dolan was driving south on Route 95, heading home to Coventry. Guglielmo said Dolan saw Vincent’s black Audi speed behind him at about 100 mph “and he couldn’t stop. Anger has caught him.”
Lacking responsibility, “he has no more authority than you or me,” Guglielmo said. “He is a public man. But he followed that car. And that’s why we’re here.”
Defense attorney Michael Colucci tell the jury that like any coin, there are two sides to this story. On the other hand, he said, Dolan “shot in self-defense. And at that point when he made the decision to shoot, he was in great danger” not hit by Vincent.
Colucci said Dolan saw Vincent’s Audi screeching behind his Ford-350 pickup truck — state police reviewed highway video that showed the Audi going 126 mph — and passed cars by two in the broken way.
Dolan had no intention of driving the car, Colucci said, but when he took the usual exit, Exit 6, to go home, “lo and behold,” he saw the car in a far down Nooseneck Hill Road. “He rushed to get the license number,” Colucci said, and maybe “talk to him.”
“He couldn’t ignore it,” said Colucci, “and he probably read in the papers (the next day) that a black Audi had killed someone. He is a sworn police officer, a (retired) United States Marine. It’s not possible. He feels responsible.”
The two lawyers disagreed again about what happened in the parking lot of the Wicked Good Pizza restaurant.
Guglielmo said Dolan backed his white pickup truck into the parking lot, nearly blocking Vincent’s Audi, before getting out to confront the driver.
The truck sat higher than the car. On the scene, Vincent said he first saw the truck’s driver’s door swing open quickly. Sensing a dangerous situation from a violent driver, he put the car in reverse and began to back out. Only then did he see Dolan approaching in front of the truck.
Video of the encounter shows Dolan walking quickly toward the car as it backs up, one arm outstretched holding a tag.
But Vincent said, he doesn’t know if this man, who is wearing his cargo pants, his white shirt and his hat, is a real policeman, or if the badge is real. She said she wanted to get back on the road and get away from him.
During his opening statements, Colucci said that Vincent and his friends “are not honest about that.”
He said Vincent tried to leave the parking lot quickly because “they knew there was something to do on the highway” and the speed they were traveling.
And Dolan stood in their way: “Mr. Vincent drove right at him in an attempt to run him down,” Colucci said. Vincent “already lunged at him, knocking him back.”
“At that time (Dolan) didn’t think he could get away,” Colucci said. “Faced with physical danger, his training took over” and he shot Vincent.
Guglielmo disagreed with that part of the events.
If Vincent’s car was an oncoming danger to Dolan, he said, the officer would have shot through the windshield. But Dolan was standing next to the car — and was unharmed — when he shot Vincent through the driver’s side window, Guglielmo said.
On the stage Vincent said, Dolan was in his vision when he heard the police say: “you are going to be shot.”
Then the window pane shatters and Vincent’s ears ring with gunshots.
Attorney General Peter F. Neronha charged Dolan with three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, as well as a fourth count of brandishing a firearm. he commits a crime.
Contact Tom Mooney at: tmooney@providencejournal.com.