Out On Bail On Milford Chase, Crash, East Haven PD Charges Gambardella

EAST HAVEN, CT — In early January, 27-year-old Nicholas Gambardella of Branford, took cops from several towns on a wild chase that ended in a crash in Milford, and his arrest.

That incident also led to a state Office of the Inspector General investigation as an East Haven police officer, believing Gambardella may have been armed, shot at, and missed the fleeing suspect. Read the full story here.

Now, in addition to the four first-degree failure to appear in court charges leveled by East Haven police at the time, Gambardella has once again bonded out, on a $130,000 bail, for some 10 new East Haven police charges relating to that Jan. 5 incident.

Gambardella was charged Wednesday with first-degree reckless endangerment, conspiracy to commit assault on a public safety officer, conspiracy to commit third-degree robbery, engaging in a police pursuit, interfering with an officer, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, reckless driving, evading responsibility with injury/property damage and traffic violations.

He's due back in court Feb. 22.

Gambardella's criminal history

Before the Jan. 5 incident, Gambardella had five previous criminal convictions and two pending criminal cases, Patch learned through research into his criminal past.

In March 2020, Gambardella was charged with trying to rob a woman at Xpress Fuel on Frontage Road in East Haven. The woman told police that Gambardella jumped in her idling truck while she was making a purchase inside the store.

She went back to her vehicle and a struggle ensued. Gambardella put the truck in reverse and drive several times while she was hanging on in an attempt to knock her off the vehicle, police said. Eventually, she was able to open the door and Gambardella jumped out while the truck was in gear, which caused it to crash into a guardrail. Gambardella was released after posting a $50,000 bond.

In 2016, Gambardella was found guilty of possession with intent to sell narcotics and three probation violation charges. In total, he was given four years in prison, but that sentence was suspended after serving 60 days, and was given probation, court records show.

In 2017, Gambardella was found guilty of first-degree threatening and several probation violation charges. In total, he was given four years in prison, but that sentence was suspended after serving 60 days, and was given probation, court records show.

He was also found guilty in 2018 of a 2017 second-degree breach of peace charge. He got an unconditional discharge.

In 2018, Gambardella was found guilty of reckless driving and was given an unconditional discharge.

Months later, he was charged with first-degree reckless endangerment and was found guilty. He was sentenced to serve one year in jail, that sentence also was suspended and he was given an 18-month conditional discharge.

In a Jan. 19 Facebook post, Gambardella said that he was "currently in the process of saving up my next case bond money ..."

Read more here>>

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