GREENFIELD — A Bernardston man who earlier this month pleaded not guilty in Franklin County Superior Court to witness intimidation and violating a restraining order aimed at protecting a family member he previously pleaded guilty to strangling has been deemed too dangerous to be released on bail.

Antonio P. Candello, 52, can be held without the right to bail for up to 180 days, Judge Mark Mason ruled Wednesday after attorneys from both sides made their arguments. Candello was arraigned in Greenfield District Court in September but the case was transferred to Superior Court due to its severity. He pleaded not guilty on Jan. 9 and is due back in court on Feb. 24 for a status conference.

In October 2021, Candello was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty in Superior Court to one count of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, one count of strangulation (subsequent offense), two counts of assault and battery on a family member (subsequent offenses), and two counts of witness intimidation. The charges stemmed from a May 2019 incident where Candello strangled a family member before fleeing into the woods, cutting off his court-ordered ankle monitoring bracelet and taking refuge at a cabin where authorities later found him.

Following 11 months of incarceration, Candello was released on Sept. 9 because of days of credit he had accumulated while previously held without the right to bail, according to the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office.

Bernardston Police Sgt. John Richardson reported he was driving a police cruiser on Route 5 at 5:20 p.m. on Sept. 18 when he noticed an unfamiliar black Toyota Prius in the driveway of a home inhabited by the family member Candello’s restraining order aims to protect. Police were monitoring the residence because of the restraining order. Richardson’s report states he stopped at the home and met an unfamiliar man who said he was delivering groceries and “just helping out,” but appeared nervous and fidgety.

The next morning, Richardson reported, the family member visited the Bernardston Police Station and explained that Candello had been in the woods behind her house when Richardson stopped by. She said the man who had dropped off groceries had brought Candello there and Candello had been hiding next to a treehouse at the property’s northern end.

Due to Candello’s history of violence and fleeing from police, Richardson enlisted neighboring agencies and State Police to find and arrest Candello at a Turners Falls Road home, where he was staying despite his residence being listed on the sex offender registry as Carriage Lane in West Springfield.

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.

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