Pawtucket police officer charged in West Greenwich shooting is released after court

Mark Reynolds
The Providence Journal
Officer Daniel Dolan Jr., left, appears in court alongside his attorney, Michael J. Collucci, on Friday.

WARWICK — A Pawtucket police officer charged in the shooting of a West Greenwich teenager appeared Friday morning in Superior Court, Warwick, for arraignment and was released on personal recognizance.

Officer Daniel Dolan is accused of shooting a West Greenwich teenager on June 23 without justification after the teen sped past the off-duty officer on the highway in West Greenwich.

Magistrate John F. McBurney III also ordered Dolan to surrender his firearms and issued a no-contact order to keep him away from the teenager who was shot and two others involved in the case, according to court records.

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What happened in West Greenwich to cause the off-duty cop to shoot?

Dominic Vincent, 18, was driving with two friends as passengers, brothers Vincent Greco Jr., 18, and Joseph Greco, 17. 

A lawyer for the three teens has said that Vincent had driven a few miles, including a section of Route 95, before exiting and stopping to pick up a pizza they had ordered 12 minutes earlier from Wicked Good Pizza, at 12 Nooseneck Hill Rd., West Greenwich.

Dominic Vincent, the 18-year-old who was shot by Officer Daniel Dolan, watches Dolan's arraignment.

Dolan, who was off duty, in street clothes and driving his own vehicle, followed the car into the parking lot of the pizza shop, where he jumped out of his pickup truck, extended his badge and tried to order the car to stop. When the car drove away, Dolan fired a shot that struck Vincent in the upper arm. 

Dolan told investigators he had followed the black Audi off Route 95 at exit 6 “because he thought it had been involved in a crime and he wanted to speak with the operator to prevent him from ‘possibly injuring somebody,’” according to court documents filed in the case.

What is the case against the Pawtucket police officer Dolan? 

Dolan faces three charges of assault with a deadly weapon and a fourth charge of discharging a gun, his .40-caliber pistol, while committing a crime. He pleaded not guilty to each count.

Following the shooting, Dolan traveled to Oklahoma for a preplanned vacation.

After the hearing Friday, Dolan's lawyer, Michael J. Colucci, talked about Dolan's 17 years of public service as a U.S. Marine and as police officer, saying that Dolan spent that time "preserving and protecting" life.

"That is precisely what he was doing on the night in question," said Colucci.

The case is scheduled for a pre-trial conference on Sept. 9.

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