Man allegedly forced motorcyclist off highway in Carbon County, killing 1

A 52-year-old man was charged Wednesday in Carbon County District Court with four counts of felony murder, including intentional homicide, for allegedly running two motorcyclists off the road, killing one man, in two separate incidents near Rockvale and south of Belfry on Tuesday afternoon.

Michael Joseph Gambale was arrested Tuesday in Cody, Wyoming, after police received a high priority message to be on the lookout for a driver involved in multiple incidents of DUI and a hit-and-run accident in Carbon County. He was arrested near a gas station on Yellowstone Avenue while driving the vehicle identified in the hit-and-run accidents, following what Cody police called a “high-risk traffic stop.”

The incidents began early Tuesday afternoon when two motorcyclists reported a silver Mitsubishi pulled up next to them in the passing lane as they headed south on Highway 310 north of Rockvale. According to court documents, the vehicle swerved toward one of the pair, apparently in an attempt to cause an accident. The driver said he was an experienced driver and was able to avoid the car.

The vehicle also swerved to avoid the second motorcyclist, striking him in the leg and causing abrasions. The drivers were able to pull off the road at Rockvale, after which the vehicle turned around on the highway and attempted to ram them again while traveling in the wrong lane, according to documents. The driver then sped off and headed south toward Bridger.

Both men, who are brothers, told police they feared for their lives and believed they survived because they were good drivers.

Carbon County Sheriff's officials were called to the second crash at mile marker 8 south of Belfry around 2:30 p.m. Witnesses reported seeing a silver Mitsubishi twice plow into a Harley-Davidson motorcycle with Virginia plates and two passengers, causing the crash, court documents state.

One of the passengers, Martin Hans Peter, a 70-year-old visitor from Switzerland, died at the scene, according to Carbon County Sheriff Josh McQuillan. The second passenger was taken to a hospital in Billings.

During questioning in Cody after his arrest, Gambale said he believed he was being harassed by a motorcycle gang on Interstate 90 in Laurel, according to court documents. He said the two brothers in Rockvale blocked him from passing and made obscene gestures toward him. But authorities found his testimony did not match that of independent witnesses at the scene, court documents show.

The license plates on the silver Mitsubishi, registered to Gambale, were from Yellowstone County, but it was unclear where he resides. According to Cowboy State Daily, he was living in Cody in November 2023 when he was arrested and pleaded no contest to charges of illegally firing a crossbow at the Yellowstone Regional Airport runway.

He was arrested again on Sept. 17 for allegedly violating his probation by not following court rules regarding prescription drugs from the Veterans Affairs Department, but was released on bail on Monday, according to the Cowboy State Daily.