Public Disorder & the Decline of Vancouver's Livability

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Man with multiple stranger assault convictions sentenced to 9 more months in jail

A man with a history of assaulting strangers on the North Shore will serve nine more months in jail for setting fire to an apartment building and attacking a City of North Vancouver worker.

Jeremy Lariviere, 43, was sentenced in Vancouver Supreme Court on Tuesday.

On Christmas Day 2024, North Vancouver RCMP received a report of a man who was smashing a car windshield near the city’s works yard on Bewicke Avenue. The car’s owner tried to stop him but Lariviere struck her in the head with a hard object.

Four days later, early in the morning of Dec. 29, residents in an apartment building on the 100 block of East Keith Road called 911 when a stranger used paint thinner and a lighter to set fire to their door.

Lariviere was arrested later that day.

He pleaded guilty in Vancouver Supreme Court in January 2026 to charges of assault, arson, and mischief.

At a sentencing hearing on April 24, Crown prosecutor Kenny Wu said the fire left the victim traumatized and frightened to return to her home, and numerous residents’ lives were put at risk.

In a victim impact statement written for the court, the city worker said Lariviere's attack led her into a period of deep depression and social isolation.


“I have lost a sense of joy I once felt when interacting with the public. Although it has been over a year, the emotional toll still impacts my sense of safety in my workplace,” she wrote.

Wu said the incidents were just the latest in an escalating pattern of delusions and violent reactions from Lariviere.

At the time of the assault and arson, Lariviere was out on bail and awaiting sentencing for two other stranger attacks in which he tried to force his way into North Vancouver apartments and then attacked residents, including one he stabbed in the arm resulting in lasting nerve damage.

Prior to that, he assaulted two hotel workers in Squamish.

Police had accused Lariviere of another stranger assault on Christmas Day 2024, alleging he sucker punched a woman from behind while she was walking in the Shipyards and then assaulted her teenage son who stepped in to defend her.

Those charges were stayed by the Crown, however, after it was found the evidence submitted did not meet the standards needed for a conviction.

Lariviere’s prolific offending appears to be rooted in his schizophrenia and exacerbated by his use of crystal methamphetamine, Wu said. At various times following his arrests, Larievre has told police he was trying to free victims of human trafficking or that his victims had been stalking him.

Lariviere also has a history of refusing to follow court orders to report for psychiatric care.

Lariviere has been in custody since his arrest in December 2024.

Wu submitted Lariviere should face a total of 27 months in jail. Larievre’s defence argued he should be sentenced to time already served followed by probation.

Prior to handing down his sentence on April 28, B.C. Supreme Court Justice David Masuhara acknowledged that Lariviere has expressed remorse for his actions and indicated he wants to stay off meth and address his mental health issues.

But Lariviere does not have a good record of compliance, the judge noted, and only a limited insight into his mental illness.

“This limitation is concerning and is furthered by Mr Lariviere’s reported resistance to or disagreement with the diagnosis of schizophrenia and lack of interest in being on medication. This reduces the confidence in the diligence he will be taking with his conditions and does not ameliorate the risk of future violence as identified in the psychiatric reports,” he said.

Even when he is off street drugs and taking prescribed antipsychotics, Lariviere still experiences delusions, the court heard.

Before sentencing, Lariviere chose not to make any statement on his own behalf to the court.

Masuhara sentenced him to the total 27 months of jail sought by the Crown. Taking into account credit for time already served, Lariviere must stay in prison for another nine months.

“While rehabilitation should not be ignored, at this stage it must occur in a restrictive setting where his mental health can be closely monitored with immediate intervention if needed,” Masuhara said. “Public safety factors weigh heavily here.”

After his release, Lariviere will face three years of probation during which he must report to psychiatric services as directed by his probation officer, attend all appointments set by his mental healthcare professionals, take the medications they prescribe and abstain from drugs and alcohol completely. He’s also banned from having weapons, matches or lighters.

https://www.nsnews.com/local-news/man-wi...tenced-to-9-more-months-in-jail-12212509