28 years for attack on policeman, pedestrians

No legal defence taken for bloody vehicle rampage

A man who tried to kill an Edmonton police officer and four civilians on a chaotic night two years ago has been sentenced to 28 years in prison.

Abdulahi Sharif, 32, showed no emotion Friday afternoon as Justice Paul Belzil delivered his verdict.

“Although no sentence can repair the terrible harm done, hopefully the conclusion of this case will allow those impacted to have some measure of closure,” Belzil said.

Belzil said Sharif’s actions needed to be denounced “in the strongest of terms.” He said Sharif targeted Const. Mike Chernyk because Chernyk was police officer, adding Sharif has shown no remorse nor “any insight into the terrible harm he has caused.”

Belzil sentenced Sharif to 18 years in prison for attempting to murder Chernyk, along with 10 years each for the four remaining attempted murder counts, to be served concurrently.

Belzil’s verdict concludes a case that featured one of the largest police investigations in Edmonton’s history, and one of its stranger trials.

Many questions remain unanswered. Why did Sharif do what he did? Why did he choose to fire his defence lawyers, and offer no defence at trial? And why were terrorism charges never laid, despite the presence of an ISIS flag in Sharif ’s car?

Chief Crown prosecutor Shelley Bykewich said the lack of any explanation for the crimes “makes them that much worse.”

She recommended life in prison for the attempted murder of Chernyk, along with 20 years for the remaining counts to be served concurrently.

“Individual and community fear, indeed terror, fester when residents have no basis on which to assess their level of risk or to take appropriate precautions,” she said.

On Oct. 25, a jury convicted Sharif of all 11 charges including five counts of attempted murder.

Throughout the threeweek trial, they heard harrowing testimony from nearly 40 witnesses, including Chernyk and the four pedestrians.

The investigation into Sharif involved 367 police officers, making it one of the largest police investigations in Edmonton’s history.

Sharif kept almost totally silent during the trial. He fired his defence lawyers during pretrial proceedings, opting instead to represent himself. Despite that, he never mounted any kind of defence. After each witness,

Belzil asked Sharif a painstaking list of questions and offered topics on which he might cross-examine.

Sharif’s response to every question was the same: “maya” — the Somali word for “no.”

The story begins near Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium, where the Eskimos were playing the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Chernyk was working at a game-day traffic stop.

Just after 8 p.m., Chernyk heard a revving sound and tried to dive out of the way but was struck by a speeding Chevy Malibu. Video cameras on a nearby liquor store captured Chernyk flying through the air as the car crashed.

A few seconds later, a man, later revealed to be Sharif, emerged and began attacking Chernyk before fleeing. Somehow, Sharif made his way to a U-haul truck which he’d rented earlier.

A few hours later, a rookie officer spotted the truck in a line at a traffic checkpoint. Sharif handed over his licence but sped off before the officers could arrest him. He was soon pursued by half-a-dozen police cars, hitting pedestrians along the way. Eventually, a police car nudged the U-haul and flipped it. Officers broke the windshield and extricated Sharif.

Greg Lazin, an amicus lawyer appointed to assist the court in the absence of a defence attorney, provided some basic details about Sharif’s life during a sentencing hearing.

Sharif was born in Mogadishu in 1987 and grew up in Somalia during a time of war and instability.

Sharif fled to neighbouring Kenya in October 2008. Sharif spent the next few years there and appears to have made an unsuccessful refugee claim.

In early 2011, Sharif left for South America, arriving at the U.s.-mexico border near San Diego on July 11, 2011. After spending several months in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, an immigration judge ordered Sharif deported to Somalia. However,

ICE was forced to release Sharif after it became clear he couldn’t be deported in the near future.

Sharif claimed refugee status in Canada on Jan. 1, 2012. He’ll likely face deportation on the completion of his sentence.

He’s accrued about three years credit for time served in pre-trial custody.

Sgt. Nedo Mirjanic, the lead investigator, said during trial that Sharif ’s motives may remain a mystery.

“As a police officer, we always try to get what happened, and we’re always conscious in attempting to determine why it happened,” Mirjanic said during trial. “We don’t always get (the) why.”