On a spring day in 1992, a 35-year-old White male named Gary Potak of Stratford, Connecticut, became a victim of a homicide that would remain unsolved for decades. The events of May 6, 1992, would mark another grim statistic in what was one of the deadliest years on record for the city of Bridgeport. To this day, the case remains a cold case, with no arrests ever made and the identity of the suspect or suspects unknown.
That day, Potak, accompanied by his friend Charles “Chick”
Gombrewicz, drove into the Father Panik Village housing project with the intention of buying marijuana. As they were driving through the area, their vehicle was approached by two unidentified men. One of the men engaged Potak, who was behind the wheel, asking him what he was looking at. When Potak replied that he wanted to purchase "pot," the man produced a handgun and ordered both Potak and Gombrewicz to get out of the vehicle.
What happened in the moments that followed remains somewhat unclear, pieced together from the account of Gombrewicz, the sole witness. According to law enforcement reports, Gombrewicz exited the van, heard the sound of gunshots, and fled the scene on foot. He would later learn that his friend, Gary Potak, had been fatally shot. Another version of events, recounted by Potak's family based on what investigators told them, suggests that after the shooting, Gombrewicz pulled Potak from the van. This account details that Gombrewicz then drove the van a short distance away, abandoned it on a side street, and left the area without immediately contacting the police. Potak was found with his jacket off and his shirt pulled up around his head.
The investigation into Gary Potak's murder was met with immediate challenges, and despite the initial efforts, all leads were eventually exhausted. The case was officially classified as a cold case, joining a long list of unsolved homicides in Bridgeport. A significant blow to any future investigation was the death of the primary witness, Charles Gombrewicz, in 2005. Without his testimony and with little physical evidence to go on, the likelihood of solving the case has been described by police as low. As of today, the individuals responsible for the death of Gary Potak have never been identified or brought to justice.
