Judge hands long sentence to man holding baby when shot by police in Chollas View

A man who was holding his infant daughter when he was shot by a San Diego police officer -- and later sued the city over the shooting -- was sentenced Thursday to 14 years and eight months in state prison.

Steffon Nutall, 30, was shot last May 19 after police say he threatened his ex-girlfriend, then took their child from the woman's Chollas View-area apartment. Officers spotted him, then chased him on foot and he was shot multiple times. The infant was not struck by the gunfire.

In a statement, San Diego police said Nutall ignored Officer Robert Gladysz's repeated orders to disarm himself and surrender, then jumped up with some sort of dark-colored object in his right hand, prompting Gladysz to open fire.

In video footage released by the police department, Gladysz is seen telling a fellow officer that he "didn't see a kid" but saw Nutall holding a gun.

Nutall later sued the city of San Diego and the officer who shot him. In his federal complaint, Nutall alleges Gladysz used "excessive, unnecessary and unlawful" force by opening fire on him.

The gunshot wounds left Nutall "severely limited in his ability to walk or move his legs, and consequently, needs the aid of a wheelchair for mobility," the complaint states.

Nutall appeared in court in a wheelchair on Thursday afternoon for a sentencing hearing following his guilty pleas to charges of child endangerment, assault with a semi-automatic firearm, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Defense attorney Troy Owens said that on May 19, Nutall went to the home because he believed his daughter was being abused and he intended to stop it.

But Owens said intoxication impaired his client's judgment of the events and that his subsequent actions "are not something that he is proud of. But the underlying motivation to go to the home was not to do anything other than to protect his daughter."

In a statement to the court, Nutall echoed his attorney's explanation, while also denying that he brought a gun to the apartment.

"I only went over there to protect my daughter," he said. "I didn't come over there with the intent to hurt anybody, harm anybody, none of that."

Nutall said "intoxication and anger took over me" and that he didn't intend to put his daughter in harm's way.

But his statement also touched on the police shooting, which he said was unwarranted.

"I had no gun. He had no reason to shoot at me, period," he said.

In his lawsuit, Nutall alleged he did not "pose any reasonable or credible threat of violence" to the officer, nor did he "do anything to justify the deadly force used against him."

But Deputy District Attorney Erin Casey said Nutall was armed with a loaded gun and was heard on a 911 call threatening to shoot his ex-girlfriend. Casey also said he told an emergency dispatcher that if police responded, he "would kill everyone in the home."

The prosecutor also alleged that though Nutall claimed he received a text message detailing the alleged abuse of his child, "there has been absolutely no evidence ever presented to corroborate that."