SAN DIEGO -- A man who doused two clerks with pepper spray and stole the just-released "Grand Theft Auto IV" video game from a store in Mira Mesa three months ago was sentenced Wednesday to 270 days in jail.

Dennis Fiel, 27, pleaded guilty May 30 to a single count of robbery.

The defendant cried as his mother, Mi Young Saka, pleaded with Judge Michael Smyth to allow her son to remain out of custody so he could continue taking medication for what doctors think might be Asperger's Disorder, a milder variant of Autistic Disorder.

Defense attorney Scott Schlegel argued that his condition prompted Fiel to act out and steal the video, even though he had money in his pocket on April 29.

But prosecutor George Modlin maintained that Fiel came up with a plan to rob the Game Stop store that included taking the license plates off his truck to speed his getaway.

Modlin said Fiel was arrested last year for kicking the door of a vehicle and had to be restrained by police when they tried to take him into custody.

The prosecutor said the two Game Stop clerks were deeply shaken by what amounted to the "selfish desires" of the defendant to steal a video game.

"Their sense of safety has been affected," Modlin told the judge.

Smyth said Fiel's apparent developmental disorder puts him at a disadvantage to deal with the day-to-day stress of everyday life, but noted the defendant robbed the store in a "well-thought-out crime" after waiting for other customers to leave. He also incapacitated the innocent clerks by dousing them with "extraordinarily painful" pepper spray, the judge said.

"It seems clear to me (that) he knew what he was doing at the time," Smyth said.

As he was being led away, Fiel apologized to his mother.

"I'm sorry for ... stealing that video game," the defendant said. "I'm sorry for pepper-spraying those people."