Jury delivers split verdict for Pottstown man who shot a cop in the leg
William Ciccoli Jr. was acquitted of attempted murder in the shooting of a Pottstown Police corporal.
A Pottstown man who shot a police officer in the leg during a scuffle was acquitted of attempted murder, but convicted of assault of a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault, disarming a law enforcement officer, and related crimes.
During his two-day trial, William Ciccoli Jr., 42, denied shooting Pottstown Police Cpl. Anthony Fischer with his own handgun in November while Fischer was responding to a reported domestic disturbance between Ciccoli and his ex-girlfriend.
“It must’ve been another hand, because it wasn’t mine,” Ciccoli testified last week. “I didn’t shoot him.”
But a Montgomery County jury ruled that while Ciccoli did pull the trigger, he did not intend to kill the veteran officer.
The shooting was recorded by Pottstown Officer John Schmalbach’s body-worn camera, and video played in court showed Ciccoli and Fischer wrestling as the two officers attempted to arrest Ciccoli for allegedly strangling the ex-girlfriend.
The gun, a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson, went off once while it was still holstered, striking Fischer in his right leg and nicking his femoral artery. Fischer testified that he has still not regained full functionality of his leg and that exercise and other activity is painful.
Ciccoli said he fought the officers because he was trying to flee from them, fearful that they believed his ex-girlfriend’s assertions that he had attacked her, which he said were completely untrue.
The woman told police Ciccoli had choked her on a mattress inside the apartment they shared at the height of an argument.
For that, Ciccoli was convicted of simple assault and reckless endangerment.
He will be sentenced in the coming weeks and faces a mandatory minimum of 20 to 40 years in state prison for the assault on a law enforcement officer.