Sentencing delayed in 'unprovoked' 3-day crime spree after man fires lawyer

A man responsible for a series of violent crashes and carjackings in 2023 fired his lawyer during his sentencing hearing on Friday.

Michael Lariviere pleaded guilty in May to almost two-dozen charges including robbery, attempted robbery, flight from police, and assault causing bodily harm.

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According to the facts read in court, Lariviere approached a Dodge SUV on May 15, 2023, and pointed an imitation gun at the driver and said "I'm stealing your car," before speeding off in the SUV.

Several hours later he parked behind a Ford F-350 pickup in a parking lot and demanded the three occupants, a man with his 11-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son, get out of the truck.

He wasn't able to get away with the truck, but left the scene with cell phones, a GoPro camera and a wallet.

On May 16 he went to a car dealership in central Edmonton and pointed an imitation gun at an employee and demanded he turn over vehicle keys, according to the agreed statement of facts.

The employee gave him keys to his personal vehicle as well as two belonging to the dealership.

Lariviere left the dealership with the employee's personal truck.

Police, who had been looking for Lariviere, saw him drive the truck into the back of a Toyota Tacoma pickup truck.

They activated their lights and sirens, and Lariviere waved his imitation gun out the driver's window and shouted "stop following me" before speeding off.

Police fired two rounds at Lariviere but he took off.

Shortly after, Lariviere attempted to drive the pickup between two vehicles driving side-by-side on the street, sending one of them off the road. He stopped about 30 metres away and then aggressively reversed into the vehicle he had just hit.

He sped off and deliberately rear ended another vehicle and then rammed it a second time.

At 97 Street and Yellowhead Trail he sideswiped a BMW and later hit a Mercedes Benz, causing it to hit another vehicle.

A white Ram pickup truck was involved in a number of crashes in Edmonton on May 16, 2023. (John Hanson/CTV News Edmonton)

He then got out of the truck and ran up to another truck stopped at a red light and demanded the keys from the driver, before leaving the scene.

Lariviere was then spotted driving the wrong way down 97 Street at speeds up to 100 km/h, almost causing a head-on crash.

On May 17, Lariviere deliberately crashed into a parked pickup truck before giving its owner the finger and speeding off.

He approached a parked car on Callingwood Road, pointed an imitation gun, and robbed the driver of their phone and wallet.

Shortly after, he was driving behind a Mercedes-Benz sedan on Anthony Henday Drive and pointing an imitation gun at the driver.

He started to ram the vehicle at speeds of 140 km/h before police spotted the incident and began to chase the truck.

Lariviere sped off, running red lights on Gateway Boulevard and Ellerslie Road and deliberately hit another parked truck.

He attempted to carjack another driver, who wouldn't hand over the keys, so he got back in his stolen truck and sped off.

He went into a convenience store on Ellerslie Road and demanded cigarettes while pointing an imitation gun. The clerk ran into the store's back room, so he left.

Lariviere attempted another carjacking on Ellerslie Road and a second in a parking lot, but was not successful in either.

He drove to the parking lot of a grocery store and confronted a man in a parking lot, opening the back door of the man's vehicle and stealing a backpack from inside.

The man chased Lariviere and the two got into a physical altercation. Lariviere jumped back into his stolen truck and ran over the man's foot.

Back on Anthony Henday Drive, Lariviere hit the back of another vehicle, causing a woman inside to be taken to hospital with injuries.

Police spotted him driving in the area of 23 Avenue and 66 Street and rammed his vehicle before taking him into custody.

At his sentencing hearing on Friday, Crown prosecutor Keith Nicholls called Lariviere's actions an unprovoked "three-day crime spree" on complete strangers.

Before the Crown had finished reading details of the charges, Lariviere began conversing with his lawyer.

Court was briefly adjourned to allow Lariviere to speak with his lawyer privately outside of the courtroom.

After the two returned he announced he was firing his lawyer and asked to strike his guilty plea.

"I am not entertaining that," Justice Kimberley Palichuk said.

The Crown noted the agreed facts had been read twice and agreed to twice in court previously, noting "no delay can be attributed to the Crown."

Lariviere will be back in court on Jan. 8.

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Amanda Anderson