St. Albans man leads Colchester police on brief chase, had children in vehicle

COLCHESTER — A St. Albans man led Colchester Police on a quick chase Saturday morning after being stopped for a motor vehicle infraction.

At around 8:42 a.m. Saturday morning, Cpl. Stephen Gutierrez attempted to stop a 2004 Jeep Liberty for a vehicle infraction on Porters Point Road in Colchester when the vehicle attempted to escape by first crossing through a four-way intersection without stopping and then attempting to turn around in a driveway at the end of the dead-end road.

Police tried to stop the Jeep, but the Jeep struck the police cruiser head-on before also hitting the left rear corner. The Jeep then headed back east on Porters Point Road and police followed in a brief pursuit.

By 8:50 a.m., the driver stopped, and police arrested Daniel Lambert, 21, of St. Albans. Lambert also had a 21-year-old woman passenger and two children under the age of two in car seats in the rear of the vehicle.

Lambert was arrested and charged with attempting to elude a police officer, gross negligent operation of a motor vehicle, assault on a police officer, violation of condition of release and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child under two.

No injuries were reported, and Lambert was lodged at the Northwest State Correctional Facility on a $1,500 bail.

This was not Lambert’s first encounter with law enforcement.

In March 2020, he caused a disturbance at the McDonald’s restaurant on Swanton Road in St. Albans, where he reportedly ran behind the counter, screamed racial profanities and said he would kill the employees.

Tests showed Lambert to be under the influence of multiple substances during that incident in 2020. He was also arrested twice in 2021, in September and November.