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Thunder Bay police officer charged in property theft case, court documents show

Thunder Bay police Const. Peter Ritchie has been charged with stealing and breach of trust, according to court documents obtained by CBC. The property was stolen this July and Ritchie was charged this month with theft of property valued at $5,000 or less and breach of trust.  

Const. Peter Ritchie charged this month with stealing, breach of trust

Michelle Allan · CBC News ·
A woman with short hair shakes hands with a tall man with dark hair and a beard. They are in formal police dress and standing in a courthouse.
Const. Peter Ritchie of Thunder Bay, Ont., police, right, was charged this month with theft and breach of trust, according to court documents. He's pictured with ex-chief Sylvie Hauth, who in April was charged with breach of trust and obstruction by the OPP in April. (Facebook)

Thunder Bay police Const. Peter Ritchie has been charged with stealing and breach of trust, CBC has learned. 

According to court documents obtained by CBC, property was stolen this July. Ritchie was arrested on Oct. 10.

Ritchie faces charges of theft of property valued at $5,000 or less, as well as breach of trust. 

None of the allegations have been tested in court. 

Ritchie was sworn in as a Thunder Bay Police Service (TBPS) constable in April 2019, according to the service's Facebook post. Ontario's sunshine list shows Ritchie was paid $114,627 in 2022 as a first-class constable. 

Police say officer charged was suspended with pay

The day after Ritchie was arrested, TBPS announced an officer with the TBPS had been criminally charged with theft under $5,000 and breach of trust.

The officer facing charges was not been named in the release, but there is only one current officer with that combination of charges before the courts, confirmed a TBPS spokesperson in an email to CBC News.

It conducted an internal investigation after receiving a complaint, said a news release the police service issued about the charges late Friday afternoon. 

"The officer has been suspended with pay in accordance with legislation. As this matter is now before the court, the Thunder Bay Police Service is unable to provide further comment or information," a news release said.

"Maintaining public confidence is a top priority and I thank those who displayed the courage to speak out," said Chief Darcy Fleury in the release.

TBPS facing other scrutiny

The charges against Ritchie come amid stepped-up scrutiny of the TBPS.

Last week, Ontario's inspector general of policing announced he would evaluate how the TBPS conducts death and missing-person investigations, and its compliance wit the province's policing legislation.

Multiple other officers have also been criminally charged, for reasons other than those involving Ritchie.

Constables Taylor Auger, Ryan Dougherty, Andrew Frankow and Michael Moore were charged with assault causing bodily harm in separate incidents in 2023 and 2024.

Staff Sgt. Michael Dimini is scheduled to go to trial in 2025 for assault, breach of trust and obstruction of justice charges.

Former police chief Sylvie Hauth and ex-Thunder Bay police lawyer Holly Walbourne were charged with multiple obstruction and breach of trust offences in April 2024. Both matters will be back in court next week. 
 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michelle Allan

Reporter

Michelle Allan is a reporter at CBC Thunder Bay. She's worked with the CBC's Investigative Unit, CBC Ottawa and ran a pop-up bureau in Kingston. She won a 2021 Canadian Association of Journalists national award for investigative reporting and was a finalist in 2023. You can reach her at michelle.allan@cbc.ca.

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