Alex Kurial
Local Journalism Initiative

A Michigan woman thought Donald Trump was among several people in her car as she led Lambton OPP on a high speed chase earlier this year.
In reality she was alone and suffering from psychosis and a Lambton County Justice has ruled she must remain in Canada to receive help for mental health issues instead of returning to the US.
Thuy Nguyen, 40, crossed into Canada at the Bluewater Bridge April 8. She told a toll-booth worker she had COVID-19 and sped across the bridge and into a restricted area on the Canadian side.
Canadian border guards attempted to stop Nguyen, but she accelerated and knocked over a CBSA officer before escaping and beginning the high speed chase.
Nguyen hit speeds of 200 km/h as she tore down the 402 in her SUV, passing transport trucks on the right shoulder while evading police on the night of April 8 court heard.
Police finally brought Nguyen to a halt when they deployed a spike strip and she crashed into the median ditch.
Nguyen underwent a medical assessment after being arrested. Her conversation with a psychiatrist court heard, revealed a number of concerning and conflicting statements, many regarding individuals in the car who did not actually exist.
She claimed US. President Donald Trump was among them, and that he “told her not to worry and not to stop for the police, and drive as fast as you can.”
Nguyen said she could not stop the car because she was protecting the president’s life from an unspecified threat.
Nguyen said she didn’t think she’d actually entered Canada, and also believed that at least three other people were in the car who wanted her to crash so they could steal a winning lottery ticket.
Judge Krista Leszczynski found Nguyen not criminally responsible by reason of mental disorder on May 8.
This did not mean Nguyen was ready to be set free however, despite a joint submission from the Crown and defence that called for a conditional discharge allowing Nguyen to return to the States pending a deportation trial to Vietnam.
Leszczynski pointed out that conditional discharges must be monitored by the Ontario Review Board, which would be impossible if she left the country.
The judge also found fault with the joint submission’s claim that Nguyen did not pose a significant threat to the public, which was in contrast to the opinion of the psychiatrist working with Nguyen.
Leszczynski added that the broader public must also be factored into this decision; while Nguyen could receive treatment in Canada to address her issues, there was no way to enforce any plan if Nguyen ended up in the United States or Vietnam. 
“It is not just sufficient that the Canadian public be considered. Rather it is the safety of the public generally, especially in a situation where a person will be transferred to another country, the public in that country is also of a proper concern,” says the judge.
“What was presented was a vague outline of a plan, far from one that is developed or could be enforced or that this court could confidently rely on to conclude that your risk to the public safety could be successfully mitigated by it,” Leszczynski says.
“Ms. Nguyen… would be returned to the United States in an active state of psychosis without any plan to address serious mental health conditions that in the view of a well-respected psychiatrist indicate she represents a threat to the safety of the public.   
“It is contrary to the public interest, and it… fails to protect the public from a serious risk that she poses, does not adequately address her mental health needs, and does not provide a safe or appropriate reintegration plan. I find that such a disposition would bring the administration of justice into disrepute… the very terms of the conditional discharge serve to undermine the intent of the legislation to have the ORB maintain jurisdiction and a supervisory role over the person until they’re no longer assessed to be a risk to public safety, and can be absolutely discharged.
Judge Leszczynski decided that the safest decision was to keep Nguyen in Canada for treatment of her psychosis. The Ontario Review Board will now decide where the best placement for Nguyen will be.