A felon with a lengthy criminal history pleaded guilty Thursday to a spree of what police called unprovoked assaults that included a stabbing in Irvine.
Ricardo De La Riva Jr., 47, of Irvine, pleaded guilty to attempted murder and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, all felonies, and admitted sentencing enhancements for the personal use of a deadly weapon and inflicting great bodily injury on a victim.
De La Riva is scheduled to be sentenced June 24.
Officers were dispatched at 12:23 p.m. Jan. 3, 2023, to the Heritage Plaza shopping center at Culver Drive and Walnut Avenue, where a man was slashed on an arm by an attacker, police said.
The suspect confronted another man, who he threatened with a knife, police said. The suspect then ran to Walnut Avenue and Ravenwood Street, where he demanded a shirt from a man in his front yard, police said.
When the victim refused, De La Riva stabbed him in the abdomen, police said.
The defendant did not know any of the victims, police said.
De La Riva pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon in November 2017, according to court records. The defendant pleaded guilty to burglary and arson in September 2000, according to court records.
He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of possession of a controlled substance on Nov. 29, 2023, and was sentenced to 60 hours of community service and ordered to attend self-help meetings, according to court records.