SARATOGA SPRINGS - Vito Caselnova, a former Vermont sheriff's deputy who was once charged with attempted murder, assault and other crimes tied to a Broadway shootout with police, was sentenced Tuesday to a year of probation for his guilty plea to a misdemeanor weapons charge.
Caselnova was sentenced late Tuesday morning virtually in city court, bringing to an end the last criminal case tied to a wild shooting three years ago that drew gunfire from at least one other man and city police officers who poured into downtown to investigate.
As part of the plea deal, Caselnova must refrain from drinking alcohol. However, Judge Jeffrey Wait said he can use medical marijuana to help him sleep after his attorney, Greg Teresi, explained Caselnova sustained nerve injuries when he was shot five times during the incident.
"We said all along that Vito acted in self-defense," Teresi said afterward. "The more serious charges were ultimately dismissed. This was a resolution that both (Assistant District Attorney Joseph) Frandino and I felt was fair. Vito's greatest error was going downtown with a gun."
Warren County Probation will oversee his probation. Wait said if Caselnova complies with all of the requirements, the charge can be reduced to a violation of disorderly conduct.
A county judge threw out the original charges Caselnova faced after a grand jury member complained they felt rushed to file charges. He returned to city court on Dec. 23, pleading guilty to a weapons possession charge.
The case stems from a 3 a.m. shootout on Nov. 20, 2022, at Broadway and Caroline Street - the heart of the city's nightclub scene. City officials said the deputy shot Alexander Colon, of Utica, after an altercation at one of the local clubs, leaving the man with serious injuries. Colon later pleaded guilty to attempted assault. He was never charged with firing a shot at Caselnova, though a judge later said the two men shot at each other.
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Saratoga Springs police heard the gunshots and, shortly after arriving at the scene, opened fire on Caselnova after they repeatedly ordered him to drop his firearm. Caselnova, who at the time was off-duty from his job as a Rutland County sheriff's deputy, was hit several times but survived, as did Colon. The Times Union has previously reported that police said Colon and Caselnova exchanged gunfire before officers showed up.
The Caselnova grand jury indictment was dismissed in September 2023 by since-retired Saratoga County Judge James A. Murphy III. He cited prosecutorial error after a grand jury member came forward to say they felt rushed to make a decision on the case.
Murphy also ruled that the case could be brought to another grand jury, but the district attorney at the time, Karen Heggen, chose to appeal Murphy's decision rather than re-present the case. The appeal failed in November when an appeals court upheld the decision to throw out the indictment. Heggen has not publicly explained why she chose to appeal rather than seek a new indictment.
For his part in the melee, Colon pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor attempted assault charge in December 2023 for punching Caselnova during the 2022 brawl. Caselnova's girlfriend at the time, Cali Brown, was caught in the crossfire between police and Caselnova and was grazed by a bullet. She has sued the city of Saratoga Springs.
