Madison officer, ex-cop face more charges

12/03/2007

By Amanda Pinto , Special to the Times

MADISON - The Police Department has levied additional charges against one former cop and one suspended officer for crimes they allegedly committed while on the job.

Joseph Gambardella, 49, of Guilford, was charged with second-degree larceny for allegedly stealing gasoline from Madison pumps during shifts worked between June and October of last year.

Officer Bernard Durgin Jr., 38, of East Haven, was charged with two counts of filing a fraudulent claim or receipt of benefits and two counts of second-degree larceny for allegedly working at Yale-New Haven Hospital while on paid disability leave from the Madison Police Department.

Both men have been the subjects of legal investigations before.

Gambardella was fired from the Police Department in May after he allegedly stole $900 worth of seafood from Lenny & Joe's Fish Tale restaurant in Madison last year.

Gambardella faces three felony counts of third-degree burglary and two misdemeanor counts of fifth-degree larceny in that case.

Durgin was arrested in October for allegedly using state law enforcement database systems to get personal information on ex-girlfriends and women he worked with as a security officer at Yale-New Haven Hospital. He is charged with a first-degree computer crime.

Durgin was also suspended without pay for allegedly flashing his badge in New Haven in August to try to prevent a friend and fellow Poor Boyz motorcycle club member from getting in trouble with the law.

Gambardella and Durgin are due to face the new charges in New Haven Superior Court Dec. 11.