The trial for a former Chatham-Kent police officer charged with multiple driving offences has started.
Cristelle Vanden Enden, 47, of Chatham appeared via video in Chatham court on Monday and pleaded not guilty to dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and criminal negligence causing bodily harm after a man was injured by a vehicle in Chatham 2.5 years ago.
Vanden Enden was charged in January 2021 after paramedics went to a home on Dover Street in Chatham to assist an injured 40-year-old man. The court heard the man was transported to the Chatham-Kent Health Alliance on January 9, 2021 with a broken right arm, a bloody face, swelling and scratches to different parts of his body, and several cuts and bruises and was in the hospital for four days.
Vanden Enden was still a police officer at the time of the incident, but was on a medical leave. She retired from the police service in April 2022.
The court heard from several witnesses, including the victim's two aunts, an uncle, and two Chatham-Kent police officers who responded the day of the incident.
The witness testimony weaved a story about what happened that day, telling the court the victim left his aunt's house sober, but returned all broken.
One of his aunts said she found him lying on the ground incoherent and in pain, but didn't see a vehicle.
His uncle told the court his nephew was getting high on fentanyl at his house on Harvey Street earlier and had to receive Narcan to stop from overdosing.
He also said Vanden Eden was present and got angry because her "dope" was spilled on the ground.
The uncle added that Vanden Enden unwillingly gave his nephew a ride home after being told to because it was her "dope" that got him that way, according to the uncle.
Vanden Enden's lawyer Jim Dean told the court that Vanden Enden's car was found by police on January 10, 2021 at a home on Raleigh Street in Chatham and that blood matching the victim was found on the back seat.
Dean also said Vanden Enden's fraud charges have been withdrawn and other charges, including breaching her release conditions still need to be resolved.
A publication ban is in place to prevent further information from being made public.
The trial continues on Wednesday.
