Michael Gambino, a 51-year-old resident of Hibiscus Street in Daytona North, faces two felony child abuse counts and a battery count after his family accused him of intentionally driving recklessly as he towed the RV in which his wife and her two children were huddling. His wife called police from the RV while Gambino was still driving.
The family has been living as a unit in the RV on Gambino’s mother’s property in the Mondex for the past six weeks. The incident had started initially as an argument between Gambino and his wife as the two battled over their phones. His wife had snatched his phone away after she accused him of snatching hers.
On Tuesday morning, Gambino asked his wife and her two children to get out of the RV camper so he could take it to Bull Creek Fish Camp to empty its septic tank, as he routinely does. He told Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies that the three refused to leave the camper. So he attached the RV to his pickup truck and drove the 2.2 mile distance to the fish camp, with the family still in the RV. He told deputies that it wasn’t the first time he’d towed the RV while it was occupied. He said he took a sharper turn than he intended only at the tail end of the trip, when he was turning back into the driveway on Hibiscus.
The family members told a different account. His wife told deputies that arguments had continued Tuesday morning, though it’s not clear why they had remained in the RV. At the fish camp, she said they remained in it because they didn’t want to be abandoned there, with no way of getting home. On the way back, Gambino “began to drive in an aggressive manner causing objects to fall inside the camper,” the arrest report states. One of the children was struck in the leg by multiple objects falling, causing bruising.
Gambino’s wife was “visibly distraught” when she spoke with deputies, telling them that he had previously threatened to kill her or her children, and had access to a sawed off shotgun (which deputies could not locate). The children–a brother and sister–told deputies of the argument they witnessed between Gambino and his wife overnight, with one of th children at one point getting between the parents in an attempt to separate them. The sister told deputies she was in fear on the drive back from the fish camp, while the boy said he’d been hurt by the objects falling.
The interior of the RV was in “complete disarray,” a deputy reported.
Gambino faces two third–degree felony charges and a first degree misdemeanor charge. He was booked at the Flagler County jail on $6,000 bond. He remained at the county jail this afternoon. A judge has signed a no-contact order that would prevent Gambino from having contact with the rest of the family pending a change in the order or the disposition of the case.
JimboXYZ says
This is why Palm Coast (ITT) has ordinances that RV’s shouldn’t become a permanent fixture of living space or storage/repairs in a drive way. This family & that living arrangement has to be a domestic call to FCSO as a daily lifestyle.
Anyway, not sure what the capacity or how often the septic tank need to be drained. Sounds like his wife is one uncooperative & stupid woman. I have some empathy for the poor guy having to deal with that level of stupid every day. Then again, he had children with her and this is where the rest of us are, reading about this “crap” show. I mean really, he told her what needed to be done, she was uncooperative. When that septic system backs up in the RV, that’s going to be child abuse too, for unsanitary conditions. Breed up, not down is the moral of this story.
Brian says
Everybody’s an expert
JimboXYZ says
Please reread the article, the admission is that this isn’t the 1st time his wife & children wouldn’t get out of the RV to be towed for a septic tank flushing. That’s reading comprehension, nobody has to be an expert to really connect dots to figure that much out ? You know when the accused gets his court date, all of that information will be the tool(s) to find guilty, that this is the event that starts him down that road of proving to someone else that it’s not happening on a daily basis going forward. They’re living on the back forty of their mother’s/(inlaw) lot. What do you think the odds are that fact will change ? Are they as likely as picking 6 numbers for a Powerball/Megamillions lottery win against improving the situation ? $ 15/hour isn’t changing that reality in this inflationary world.
That property where the RV is located would need to become a single site RV Trailer park with water & sewage connectivity like a campground has. Here’s the expertise, it’s really a Google search away to read, comprehend & understand. And if his wife & children aren’t on board with this, they need to go live elsewhere where uncooperative stupidity doesn’t criminalize a daily waste function. Indoor plumbing takes the ball out of her court for that. Even indoor plumbing has it’s maintenance. That’s one of the problems in America the extent of the sewage has become a society of morons that think flushing the toilet every day makes them an expert. Astonishes & amazes me that anyone would jeopardize the health of themselves & children to not cooperate with the dude that is trying to make life actually work. Nobody deserves/needs to be sandbagged like that. At this point, one of the alternatives is divorce & child support to escape the hell his wife has created for him. I’m more shocked that he hasn’t become that frustrated to have escalated a domestic call. How much can anyone tolerate ? When your own wife isn’t on the team & she won’t take care of the children for it. All she had to do was get in the truck with the kids & ride along for septic tank drain & flush. That’s not an arrest for a crime. Instead, stupid & lazy, she’s done her best to make this happen on more than one occasion.
https://www.aboutrving.com/rv-topics/rv-sewage-101/
Brian says
Wow. Calm down and have another gallon of coffee, Mr. Reading Comprehension.
JimboXYZ says
Well, the next time you read that your local government is raising your taxes for 3 dozen more deputies, it’s because of these type of residents. We don’t need that level of drama for daily news in Flagler County. This is how FL (in this specific case Bunnell) Man became a meme of a joke on the interwebs, only this is the family nobody wants to move in the rental duplex next door to make their lives a hell. Here we are, people at their age requiring this basic of a concept explained to them and the rest of us are on the hook as victims financially. Unfortunate that the exceptionally stupid ones have to be micromanaged like children.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mental_defectives_in_Virginia-_(1915)_(14587462548).jpg
Laurel says
Holy cow! So the guy driving and towing the trailer, purposely making it zigzag all over to the point that the wife and children are scared, stuff is flying all around the trailer wounding the boy and the wife had to call the Sheriff for help, and in Jimbo’s world, the wife is the one who is uncooperative and the driver is the victim. Huh. Let me see, the Deputies put the driver in jail, not the wife and kids. What a shocker!
Tells a whole lot about you, Jimbo. A whole lot.
I remember a friend telling me how, while her abusive husband was asleep on the couch, she took the baby and literally slid along the wall until she was out the door. I suppose that makes her uncooperative as well.
This is sad. Lady, get a divorce as fast as you can, and go! No one deserves this kind of treatment, and you must protect your kids. Get help and get away!
jane doh says
It’s not Palm Coast. The article says it’s Daytona North.
Jim says
Hard to argue with you, JimboXYZ. Clearly you can determine through this article that the wife is stupid and uncooperative. Looking at it from your point of view, she deserved getting thrown around in the camper and the kids just got what they deserved for staying in there with their mother.
Maybe next time he can just wreck the camper and finish the job.
And I agree with you, breed up, not down. By the way, do you have children????
DMFinFlorida says
@ Jim says …
Brilliant response. I love the sarcasm font usage. And let’s hope the answer to your final question is a resounding NO.
Jim says
Mankind is not that lucky……
JimboXYZ says
“On Tuesday morning, Gambino asked his wife and her two children to get out of the RV camper so he could take it to Bull Creek Fish Camp to empty its septic tank, as he routinely does. He told Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies that the three refused to leave the camper. So he attached the RV to his pickup truck and drove the 2.2 mile distance to the fish camp, with the family still in the RV. He told deputies that it wasn’t the first time he’d towed the RV while it was occupied…”
I have no reason to doubt his side of the story, emptying a septic tank is a job that isn’t fun, something anyone would look forward to performing. Her side of the story is she didn’t want to be abandoned at the Fish Camp, so she remained in the RV with the children. Abandoned beats becoming a fatality ? And all she had mo do initially is cooperate, how about stay with the mother (in-law) & never leave the property. Judge issued a “no contact”, he had to see that as a blessing at this point. All she had to do was work with him at the property that they are staying for the last 6 weeks. Nope, she couldn’t get herself & the kids out of the RV to be a legal towing. He’s no prize from the photo. A spare RV septic might have avoided this whole situation. Then it doesn’t leave the property as towed. Solutions ? This all started over their phones as argumentative, texts ?
Rest assured you won’t be reading about my wife & children in a news story like this.
Jim says
Oh, man…. I was really hoping you didn’t have kids…..
TR says
Well I’m glad they caught him before he really hurt the kids. Unfortunately he posted bond approx. 28 1/2 hrs after being arrested and i doubt he’ll be obeying the no contact order.
Skibum says
Nobody deserves to be abused like this. I’ve seen so much of this type of domestic abuse first hand. The wife and kids have probably experienced this numerous times, and I really hope the woman sees him for who he really is and takes this opportunity to get herself and the children far, far away from him before he ends up hurting or killing one or more of them like happens all too often. I’m crossing my fingers for her, but what usually happens unfortunately is the victim reconsiders once the abuser is taken to jail and not only recants what they have told law enforcement, but then refuses to cooperate in prosecuting the abuser so he is released and comes back home to continue the abuse. So sad… I hope this case does not end like that!
MeToo says
@ Skibum
Totally agree. So sad. Hopefully, she is not “stuck” with him due to no means of getting out. There ARE places she can go for safety. I hope she researches and turns things around for her and her children.
Laurel says
Thank you Skibum. When I was sixteen, my boyfriend punched me in the stomach and knocked the wind out of me. I knew then and there, I would never put up with anything like that again. Later, he sat in front of me, in public, with tears in his eyes wanting me to come back. Nope, didn’t happen.
In my 30’s, my long time boyfriend made a fist and pulled back his arm. I stuck out my chin and told him to go for it. He didn’t. He knew I would have turned his ass in immediately. I’ve never been abused since. I can’t recommend this to anyone, but I do believe a woman should never have to put up with such behavior, and do all she can to get help to get out. She owes it to her kids, too.
Good ole Dr. Phil states a man should never, ever hit a woman. He said if a woman hits a man, he should walk away. If she hits him again, he should run away. Any man who hits a woman or child is a coward. This trailer incident is no different.
Flowers instead of cement says
Wouldn’t the old Bull Creek Fish Camp be the perfect place for these RV’s where people who don’t have traditional homes can reside ? The county can subsidize the lot rental space for the “semi-homeless” people allowing them to get their “situations” corrected. The property has the space, the utilities and chance for hope.
Sunrise in Flagler says
Here’s a real estate development project Commissioner Pennington, can vote for that will actually benefit the less fortunate low income residents of her district. Instead of voting YES to every HIGH END development and developer in the Hammock.