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U.S. driver arrested for impaired at Blue Water Bridge refuses to return to Canada to 'face the music'

U.S. driver arrested for impaired at Blue Water Bridge refuses to return to Canada to 'face the music'

National Post30-05-2025
A Michigan man charged with impaired driving at the Blue Water Bridge was supposed to plead guilty this week in a Sarnia courtroom, but has instead refused to return to Canada to face the music, his lawyer says.
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As a result, a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
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Canada Border Services Agency officers called Lambton OPP on July 27 around 8 p.m. about a suspected impaired driver on their side of the twin-span bridge connecting Michigan and Ontario, police said in a statement last summer.
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Christopher Wypych, 61, from Fort Gratiot, Mich., was charged with impaired driving. His licence was suspended for 90 days, his vehicle impounded, and he was released with a court date in September in Sarnia.
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The case has been adjourned multiple times since then, with a guilty plea finally scheduled for Wednesday. But when the date arrived, Wypych's lawyer, Robert McFadden, told the judge his client changed his mind and decided not to come to Canada.
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Court staff called out Wypych's name over the public address system to ensure he wasn't somewhere in the Christina Street North building.
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'A warrant's appropriate in the circumstances. Mr. Wypych is not here. He hasn't responded yet to the page. He's under an obligation to be here. A warrant will be issued for his arrest,' Hornblower said.
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Lambton OPP have issued five statements about similar incidents at the Blue Water Bridge during the past year, four of them involving U.S. residents. One of them, a 35-year-old man from Harrison Township, Mich., who took a wrong turn and mistakenly drove up to Canadian customs at the Blue Water Bridge while double the limit, recently got a $2,000 fine, a one-year driving ban in Canada, and a tongue-lashing from a Sarnia judge.
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