A suspended Sarnia police officer faces additional charges, police say.
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Const. Sean Van Vlymen, 47, was arrested Sept. 20 and held for bail, charged with uttering threats and 12 counts of possession of an unauthorized firearm, Sarnia police said in a news release.
Van Vlymen was released from custody, with conditions, following a bail hearing, police said in the release.
He remains suspended with pay, pursuant to the provisions of the Community Safety and Policing Act, and is awaiting his next court date, police said.
The new charges stem from further investigation into an Aug. 30 incident, in which police were called to a dispute involving two people known to each other, one of who was a suspended officer, police said in the release.
No more details of the dispute are being released, to protect the victim’s identity, police said.
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Following that call, Van Vlymen was charged with assault, criminal harassment, animal cruelty and mischief.
Van Vlymen, who has been suspended since Aug. 29, 2023 and prohibited from performing the duties of a police officer, was charged with assault causing bodily harm by Ontario’s police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit, in July 2023.
That charge is in connection with an Oct. 23, 2022 incident, in which a man suffered a serious injury, SIU officials have said.
Details have not been provided since the matter is before the courts, SIU officials have said.
Van Vlymen also was fined, hit with driving limitations and demoted after being charged by OPP with impaired driving in an off-duty incident at the Blue Water Bridge in March 2023.
That charge was dropped after Van Vlymen was pleaded guilty to careless driving under the Highway Traffic Act.
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