Armed woman shot by police gets 5-year sentence
Morgan Laplante has more than 3.5 years left to serve after Tuesday's sentencing
A woman who ran down a residential street in Ottawa with a loaded handgun after ditching a car last year — and who was later shot by a police officer — has been sentenced to five years in prison.
Morgan Rachel Laplante was sentenced Tuesday in Ottawa. She has more than three-and-a-half years left to serve after being given credit for the time already spent in custody.
She was ordered to submit a DNA sample for a national databank, she's banned from possessing weapons for life and she isn't allowed to drive for two years after she gets out of prison.
Laplante had pleaded guilty in autumn to one count each of possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking, possession of a loaded and restricted firearm, breaching a weapons prohibition and dangerous driving.
Fled attempted traffic stop
On Tuesday, Justice Heather Perkins-McVey told court that in the early afternoon of March 22, 2024, police responded to a call about a silver Audi in the Carlington neighbourhood.
Officers in a police SUV later pulled up behind the Audi, which was being driven by Laplante on Carling Avenue, and activated their emergency lights. Laplante turned onto a dead-end street and drove over the curb and rocks at the end of the road, causing significant damage to the car.
Laplante continued driving to the intersection of Tweedsmuir and Avondale avenues in Westboro, where she ditched the Audi. She then fled on foot with the gun.
WATCH | Breaking down the sentencing:
Ottawa police Const. Patrick Wiseman stopped his vehicle and chased her on foot with his gun drawn, shouting at her to drop her gun and that he didn't want to shoot her.
When Laplante turned in his direction, he fired four shots out of concern for his safety, Perkins-McVey said. Two of the bullets struck Laplante; one in her upper left shoulder and the other in her stomach.
Another bullet ricocheted and struck a window in the door of a nearby home, while the fourth bullet was found on a driveway.
Laplante dropped her gun when she was shot, Perkins-McVey said, and was taken to hospital in critical condition.
Along with the handgun, Laplante had fled with a Louis Vuitton handbag and a small purse belonging to someone else, as well as cocaine, crack cocaine, baggies, a balaclava, a scale and a butterfly knife.
Crown wanted 7 years, defence wanted 3.5 max
Assistant Crown attorney Matthew Humphreys had earlier argued for seven years imprisonment, while defence lawyer Joe Addelman argued for three to three-and-a-half years.
Perkins-McVey told court Tuesday that Laplante's guilty plea was a "significant" mitigating factor, sparing the court substantial costs and the community and officer from being retraumatized by a trial.
She added that Laplante's criminal record, including assaults and obstructing police, as well as her attempt to flee police and her "flagrant disregard" of a previous court order banning Laplante from possessing weapons, were aggravating.
Laplante said she had to undergo several surgeries after she was shot by Wiseman and that her wounds became infected in jail. Perkins-McVey didn't consider Laplante's injuries mitigating factors, because they were sustained in the commission of a crime involving a firearm she knew she wasn't allowed to possess.
Ontario's police watchdog, the Special Investigations Unit, conducted an investigation into the police shooting of Laplante. In July it released its report that cleared police of any wrongdoing.
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