SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A felon who was shot by police after firing an officer's weapon through the back window of a police cruiser at San Diego police headquarters was sentenced Monday to 10 years in state prison.
Keith Bergman, 26, pleaded guilty last month to assault on a peace officer with a semi-automatic firearm and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Bergman was arrested July 5 at a downtown hotel and was sitting inside a patrol SUV that was parked in the underground sally port of SDPD headquarters when he slipped out of his handcuffs, broke a partition between the back seat and front seat, and got his hands on a gun that was inside an officer's gear bag, according to the San Diego Police Department.
Once officers realized Bergman had a gun, several officers drew their firearms and surrounded the vehicle, while ordering Bergman to drop the gun, surveillance and body-camera footage released by the department last summer showed. The officers later backed away from the cruiser and took cover behind concrete pillars and other vehicles.
Bergman fired a single shot through the rear window of the patrol vehicle and officers opened fire, striking him in the upper body.
No officers were struck by the gun shot fired by Bergman, who later exited the vehicle with the officer's bag slung over his shoulder and the gun tucked into his waistband.
He tried to open the rear hatch of the SUV, but was unable to do so, then attempted to open the driver's side door and three rounds were fired in his direction. Surveillance footage showed the shots piercing the windshield of the cruiser as Bergman stuck his head through the SUV's open window.
The shots sent Bergman to the ground, but he tried to open the driver's side door again, and another shot was fired in his direction. A police dog then subdued him and he was taken into custody.
Bergman was hospitalized, then booked into county jail upon release from the hospital.
