A Falls man, who was shot by police after officers said he tried to run them down following a high-speed chase, has been sentenced to a term of 2 to 4 years in state prison for his guilty plea to a charge of first-degree reckless endangerment.
The sentence handed down to Anthony Ciccarelli, 25, of the Falls, will be served consecutively to a 6-year prison term for drug and burglary convictions stemming from an unrelated incident in North Tonawanda.
Ciccarelli was charged in connection with an officer-involved shooting on the 1100 block of Connecting Road in April. In addition to the reckless endangerment charge, he had also faced multiple vehicle and traffic (V&T) law charges stemming from his actions in fleeing from a police traffic stop.
The traffic infraction charges were dismissed as part of Ciccarelli’s plea deal with prosecutors.
Falls Police patrol officers said they attempted to conduct a traffic stop on a Nissan Murano being driven by Ciccarelli near 18th Street and Pine Avenue around 6:30 p.m. on April 17. The officers said they attempted to stop the vehicle because they observed what might have been “narcotics activity” between Ciccarelli and another suspect.
The officers said when they activated their lights and siren, Ciccarelli “failed to yield” to them and led them on a high-speed chase through the city and Town of Niagara before entering the 1100 block of Connecting Road.
Police radio transmissions indicated that Ciccarelli stopped on Connecting Road and attempted to make a U-turn before driving his vehicle toward the responding patrol officers. Officers told police dispatchers that the driver was not following their commands.
Moments later, the officers radioed dispatchers, “Shots fired!” and said that Ciccarelli “tried hitting us with his vehicle.”
Ciccarelli was treated at the scene by Falls firefighters and taken by ambulance to Erie County Medical Center in Buffalo with what was described as a non-life-threatening gunshot wound. The officer involved in the shooting was not injured.
At his Thursday morning sentencing, Ciccarelli said he regretted his actions, saying “someone could have been seriously hurt or died” as a result of them.
Investigations by Falls Police Criminal Investigation Division (CID) detectives and Office of Professional Standards investigators, as well as a Niagara County grand jury, determined that the officer involved in the shooting was “justified” in firing at Ciccarelli.