Sarnia cop charged with assault faces added counts: records

A Sarnia police officer and trainer Sarnia Sting player, charged last month with assaultmade his first court appearance – and documents show he’s facing additional charges.

Sarnia police said in an April 21 statement Const. Chris Beauchamp had been charged with assault after officers responded to an incident involving an off-duty officer at a private residence.

Chief Derek Davis declined at the time to comment on the charge beyond the information in the statement.

“It’s in the court’s hands,” he said.

Court documents obtained by The Observer Friday show Beauchamp, 32, a Sarnia resident who played one season for the Sting in 2008-09, faces three charges from two separate alleged incidents all linked to the same female complainant. The charges include assault between June 1 and July 31, 2022, and additional counts of assault and unlawful confinement on or about April 20.

Beauchamp made his first appearance in a Sarnia courtroom Thursday.

Mahta Talani, an articling student at Toronto firm Brauti Thorning LLP, said Beauchamp has hired them. Peter Brauti, the firm’s co-managing partner, is an expert in police law and has represented hundreds of professionals including police officers, his website says.

Talani said they’re still awaiting disclosure.

Assistant Crown attorney Aniko Coughlan said she couldn’t comment on the case as it’s been assigned to Callie Hill of the Windsor Crown attorney’s office due to a conflict of interest.

Beauchamp was arrested by Chatham-Kent police, court documents show.

The case was added to late June.

Sarnia police have said Beauchamp has been assigned to non-operational duties.

“It just means they’re not responding to emergency calls in the public, but are working and performing meaningful work within the building,” Davis said.

Davis has ordered an internal investigation under the Police Services Act, but it likely will be on hold until the criminal proceedings are complete.

“Based on the outcome – whatever that may be – we would subsequently investigate under the Police Services Act,” Davis said.

Beauchamp, originally from the Georgian Bay town of Midland, was one of four new Sarnia police officers sworn in in August 2017. He made more than $120,000 last year, according to sunshineliststats.com.

Beauchamp, then a 17-year-old center, was acquired by the Sting in late October 2008 from the Brampton Battalion in exchange for a fifth-round pick in the 2012 OHL draft. He played 50 regular-season and five playoff games for Sarnia during that campaign, scoring a total of four goals and seven points.

He split the following season between the QMJHL’s Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and the Trenton Golden Hawks of the Ontario Junior Hockey League.

Beauchamp is the sixth Sarnia police officer to face criminal charges since August 2020; only one has been convicted. Christopher Noordam voluntarily resigned last fall after being convicted of breach of trust for inappropriately – and repeatedly – ​​touching a parolee he was supervising during meetings in a private room at police headquarters.

Three cases are still outstanding – Beauchamp’s, an over-the-limit charge linked to an alleged off-duty incident at the Blue Water Bridge involving Const. Sean Van Vlymen, and a slew of assault charges laid against Const. Jeremy Wilde in Sarnia and London, also linked to alleged off-duty incidents.

Another Sarnia police officer was previously charged with break and enter to commit mischief, but that charge was tossed out in June 2021, and a fellow officer, charged with forgery and attempted fraud, was cleared in October 2021.

Davis said last month it’s challenging when officers are charged.

“I think it’s important to remember that police officers are human beings as well,” he said. “We do make mistakes, we do have good days and bad days.”

[email protected]

@ObserverTerry