Vincent Pizzolato
Local news
A Monroe father, accused of accidentally shooting his 11-year-old son in the face while securing his wife’s gun, was granted a special form of probation Thursday.
While Superior Court Judge Earl Richards said he considered the incident to be serious, he was gratified the boy suffered no permanent injuries and said he was convinced the father, Vincent Pizzolato, would not commit criminal acts in the future. Richards granted the 44-year-old Pizzolato accelerated rehabilitation.
Under accelerated rehabilitation, Pizzolato, who was charged with second-degree assault, second-degree reckless endangerment and unlawful discharge of a firearm for the March 8 incident, did not plead guilty to the crime but was placed on two years’ probation. If he commits no crimes during that probation, the charges against him will be dismissed.
Police said Pizzolato and his wife had earlier returned home from target practice at the Bridgeport Shooting range. Pizzolato had taken both guns into the basement and, after putting his own gun into a safe, he began securing his wife’s Ruger 9mm semi-automatic handgun. At the time, their son was in the adjoining basement TV room playing video games.
Police said Pizzolato told them he had his wife’s gun pointed at the wall separating the two rooms as he checked the chamber and magazine, both which appeared empty. He pulled the trigger and the gun fired, the bullet piercing a plastic rifle case and the sheetrock wall before hitting his son.
