Jurors began deliberations Tuesday in the trial of a man charged with the attempted murder of a San Diego police officer for allegedly shooting him during a pursuit in Chollas View.
J.C. Blake Sartor, 32, is accused of fleeing from Officer James Romero, then shooting him in the arm two years ago.
Prosecutors say Romero was pursuing a stolen pickup truck. Sartor abandoned the vehicle, took off running down a narrow alley, then turned and fired on Romero.
The officer was hit by one bullet in his right arm, while a second shot struck an apartment building. Romero did not have his firearm drawn when he was shot, according to prosecutors.
During the trial, Romero identified Sartor as the man who shot him. He also testified about the impact of the injuries he sustained, including lingering pain and nightmares that persisted for months.
Sartor was arrested six days after the June 8, 2023 shooting and was found with a bag containing an unserialized “ghost gun.” Both the prosecution and defense agreed in closing arguments delivered Tuesday afternoon that it was the weapon used to shoot Romero.
Sartor’s defense attorney, Loyst Fletcher, however said the evidence presented at trial did not conclusively prove his client was the shooter.
Fletcher said Romero’s body-worn camera footage did not capture the gunman, nor did other cameras in the neighborhood where the shooting occurred.
He also said the description of clothing worn by the suspect that Romero provided his fellow officers didn’t match another provided by a witness who spotted the shooter open fire. The witness also saw the shooter run into an idling car that sped away from the shooting scene.
Deputy District Attorney Clay Biddle said that the totality of the evidence was “overwhelming and abundant” in pointing to Sartor as the shooter. It includes his fingerprints and DNA, which were found inside the stolen truck, cell phone location data placing him in the area of the shooting and his statements to an informant in jail.
While Fletcher alleged Sartor was essentially talking himself up to the informant – a fellow inmate who identified himself as a gang member incarcerated for a double murder – Biddle said Sartor’s statements to the informant contained specific details related to the shooting, including that he was arrested six days afterward.
Sartor also faces charges in connection with a 2021 East County chase, in which prosecutors say he sped away from police in a stolen vehicle. The pursuit spanned around 17 miles.
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