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A rookie St. Thomas police officer resigned from the force prior to pleading guilty to impaired driving on Thursday, a police spokesperson says.
Sarah Mooney, 32, of Aylmer was charged with impaired driving with more than 80 milligrams in 100 millilitres of blood on Oct. 13.
An Elgin County OPP officer pulled over a vehicle at 12:20 a.m. on Springfield Road near College Line in Malahide Township, northeast of Aylmer, after receiving a traffic complaint about a suspected impaired driver, provincial police said at the time. The driver was arrested and taken to the OPP detachment for further testing.
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St. Thomas police Chief Marc Roskamp suspended Mooney, a constable under the one-year probation period, with pay following her arrest.
Mooney pleaded guilty to impaired driving during her first court appearance Thursday. She was given a one-year driving prohibition, fined $1,500 and ordered to pay a $450 surcharge, court records show.
“She had tendered her resignation prior to her court appearance,” police spokesperson Samantha Wakefield said on Friday. “She is no longer a member of the St. Thomas police service.”
Mooney was listed as one of four cadets in the force’s 2023 annual report. Cadets must complete the 12-week constable training program at the Ontario Police College in Aylmer before they become sworn officers.
Had Mooney not resigned, she would have faced discipline under the Community Safety and Policing Act, the legislation governing policing in Ontario and under which police forces hold disciplinary hearings into professional misconduct. Officers convicted of a criminal offence face an automatic charge under the legislation.
Mooney’s resignation has put an end to the internal investigation, Wakefield said.
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