Catalano Sentenced for 2009 Hit-and-Run, Shooting

A North Kingstown man accused of running down a gas station attendant and shooting a police officer is being sentenced to life in prison plus 17 years.

In May of 2009, David Catalano hit and killed 66 year-old Clifford LeValley on Post Road in East Greenwich.

When North Kingstown police officer Troy Maiato caught up with Catalano at his North Kingstown home, Catalano grabbed Maiato's gun and shot him – Maiato survived with only minor injuries, but Catalano fled in the his police car and was arrested after a short chase.

Mike Healey, spokesman for Attorney General Patrick Lynch, says this is the first time a suspect has plead guilty under a Rhode Island law introduced in 2000 that mandates a life sentence for a suspect who uses a gun to injure a police officer while committing a crime of violence.

ABC6 Reporter Erica Ricci has the story.