Bridgeport attorney Peter Tsimbidaros dies after car crash

Peter Tsimbidaros, a Bridgeport attorney who gained prominence in high-profile criminal cases, was killed in an automobile collision on New Year”™s Day. He was 50 years old.

Tsimbidaros”™ Honda CRV was hit by a van driven by Keith Commerford at the intersection of Fairfield Avenue and Ellsworth Street in the Black Rock section of Bridgeport. Earlier in the day, Commerford received a misdemeanor summons for a hit-and-run crash in Bridgeport. Tsimbidaros was taken to Bridgeport Hospital, where he died from the injuries sustained in the crash. Commerford, who has an extensive criminal history that includes manslaughter, was also taken to the hospital and has yet to be formally charged in Tsimbidaros”™ death.

A graduate of the University of Connecticut Law School, Tsimbidaros operated a private practice as a criminal defense lawyer. He gained national attention in 2010 when he represented Ronald Taylor and George Gould, whose 1993 convictions for the murder of a New Haven store owner were overturned in a case where the ruling judge said the duo were the victims of “manifest injustice.”