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Man on trial for violent axe attack

BY KEITH LACEY [email protected] A Capreol man has told a Sudbury jury how he was attacked with an axe after accusing another man of breaking into his father?s camp last spring.
BY KEITH LACEY

A Capreol man has told a Sudbury jury how he was attacked with an axe after accusing another man of breaking into his father?s camp last spring.

Richard Petit, 50, has pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated assault, possession of a dangerous weapon, assault with a weapon and two counts of breaching court orders, including one where he was not to be in possession of any prohibited weapon or firearm.

Chris Lariviere told an eight-man, four-woman jury Monday how he confronted Petit last April on a bush road behind Capreol and accused him of being the person responsible for a rash of break and enters at camps located behind Capreol, including his father?s cottage.

?I asked him ?what in the hell are you doing back here??. I believed he was involved in the thefts,? said Lariviere.

Petit uttered a profanity towards him and they exchanged words before Petit reached inside his van, grabbed an axe and swung it violently towards him, said Lariviere.

One blow hit him in the stomach area, causing severe bleeding and when he realized he had been hit and injured he climbed inside his truck to drive himself to hospital, he testified.

Petit walked towards his van and also left the scene, he said.

Within a couple of minutes, a husband and wife drove up towards his truck and offered assistance after seeing he was bleeding and in need of medical assistance, said Lariviere.

?I said please give me a ride to hospital,? he said.

While driving towards Sudbury, the couple used their cell phone to call 911 and an ambulance met up with them shortly thereafter and transported him to hospital, he testified.

He needed dozens of stitches to close a gaping wound to his abdomen, but he was released several hours after arriving at hospital, said Lariviere.

Lariviere said he was not a friend of Petit, but knew him because Capreol is a small town and admitted he believed Petit was the man responsible for numerous break and enters of Capreol area cottages.

The afternoon in question he was driving home from a friend?s place when he noticed Petit?s van and he pulled in front of the van to confront Petit with allegations about the thefts, he said.

Defence counsel Glenn Sandberg suggested during cross-examination it was Lariviere who started the violent struggle.

When Sandberg suggested Lariviere insisted on looking inside Petit?s van and went as far as to claim he was a police officer, Lariviere denied it.

When Sandberg suggested Lariviere then told Petit he was a member of an outlaw motorcycle gang, again Lariviere denied it.

When Sandberg suggested Lariviere punched Petit in the head and then grabbed Petit by the neck and shoulder, Lariviere said that?s not what happened.

The trial is expected to last until Thursday or Friday.