American arrested for impaired driving at Blue Water Bridge refuses to return to Canada to 'face the music'

National Post

30-05-2025

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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