A 27-year-old man has pleaded guilty in connection with what Winnipeg police described as a "horrific" and unprovoked 2018 attack — the start of a two day-long string of crimes that included another assault, auto theft and a high-speed police chase.

Joshua Zachary Alan Snakeskin appeared in a Manitoba provincial court Tuesday morning and pleaded guilty to beating a 17-year-old university student at a bus shelter outside Portage Place Mall on Jan. 23, 2018.

The victim — an international student studying at the University of Manitoba — was also robbed, and was sent to hospital with serious facial and head injuries, including fractured bones in his face.

Crown attorney Bryton Moen told Manitoba provincial court Judge Anne Krahn on Tuesday that on the day of the attack, Snakeskin had just been kicked out of the mall and escorted outside. He went into the bus shelter in front of the mall, where the victim was waiting.

Joshua Zachary Snakeskin, 27, pleaded guilty Tuesday to a number of charges, including aggravated assault, robbery and theft of a motor vehicle. (Josh Snakeskin/Facebook)

The court heard that Snakeskin waited until he and the victim were alone and then punched the teen in the face, knocking him to the ground. Snakeskin continued to punch the victim in the face five or six more times, before stomping on his head two to three times.

Snakeskin's lawyer, Aaron Braun, said his client was "intoxicated on a substance" and had become paranoid.

Stole 2 vehicles following day

The Crown said the day after the assault, Snakeskin went to Seven Oaks Hospital. In the hospital's parking lot, he spotted a man sitting in a car and smashed the driver's-side window. Snakeskin punched the man in the face and tossed him out of the car.

Snakeskin then drove the car to Gimli, 84 kilometres north of Winnipeg, where he continued his crime spree.

In the Interlake town, Snakeskin stole a truck and filled it up with $103 worth of gas, which he didn't pay for, and drove back to Winnipeg, court heard.

Snakeskin was found driving a stolen truck, which Winnipeg police brought to a stop near Portage Avenue and Albany Street on Jan. 24, 2018. (Submitted by Danton Unger)

On the evening of Jan. 24, 2018, Winnipeg police spotted him in the area of Portage Avenue and Maryland Street and tried to pull him over.

Moen told the judge Snakeskin led police on a high-speed chase, but it was aborted for safety concerns. The police helicopter took over and tracked the stolen vehicle as it sped through the city for about 20 minutes.

At one point, Snakeskin crashed into another vehicle, but he drove off.

The vehicle was finally brought to a stop near Portage Avenue and Albany Street, police said at the time. He was later arrested and charged.

On Tuesday, Snakeskin pleaded guilty to a number of charges including aggravated assault, robbery and theft of a motor vehicle.

A robbery conviction carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. The maximum sentence for aggravated assault is 14 years.

A Gladue report — which provides the court with background about the personal circumstances of an Indigenous offender — and a pre-sentence report were ordered and expected to be complete by April 23. Snakeskin will be sentenced sometime after that.

Parole board documents show Snakeskin had substance abuse problems and a difficult childhood.

He had been released from Stony Mountain Institution five days before the bus shelter attack, after serving time for a 2016 meth-fuelled crime spree.