Jury to decide fate of man accused of shooting SDPD officer in 2023

Police officers establish a perimeter around the crime scene in Chollas Creek Courtesy OnScene TV 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 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 wagon 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 shooting and was exposed 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 stated the evidence presented at trial did not conclusively prove his client was the shooter Fletcher mentioned Romero s body-worn camera footage did not capture the gunman nor did other cameras in the neighborhood where the shooting occurred He also declared 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 announced 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 located inside the stolen truck cell phone location input 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 stated 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 East County chase in which prosecutors say he sped away from police in a stolen car The pursuit spanned around miles