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Domestic violence suspect sues San Diego police officer who shot him after he fled with baby

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1 year ago

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Domestic violence suspect sues San Diego police officer who shot him after he fled with baby


A man who allegedly threatened to shoot his former girlfriend and was later shot by a San Diego police officer after fleeing with the couple’s baby has filed a federal lawsuit accusing the officer and the city of civil rights violations, including excessive force.

Steffon Nutall, 29, was shot on the evening of May 19 in the city’s Chollas View neighborhood after his former girlfriend called 911 when he allegedly entered her apartment with a gun, threatened to kill everyone if police came — and then fled with their 11-month-old daughter, according to a San Diego police video.

Nutall was shot several times outside a nearby apartment a short time later. He has been charged with multiple felonies, including assault with a firearm, criminal threats, child endangerment and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, police said. He has pleaded not guilty and is in custody without bail pending a preliminary hearing.

Police later found he had dropped his weapon and was not armed when he was shot, authorities said. The baby was found nearby and unhurt.

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The lawsuit, filed on Wednesday, claims Officer Robert Gladysz “unreasonably and unjustifiably” discharged his weapon though Nutall never posed a “credible threat of violence,” leaving him with injuries that limit his ability to move his legs and in need of a wheelchair.

“It’s a bad shooting. His back was turned to the officer. There was clearly no gun,” attorney Douglas Hopson, whose firm filed the lawsuit, said Saturday. “There’s too many facts, too many circumstances that should have made it clear that Nutall was not armed.”

Hopson said Nutall went to the apartment because he feared for his child’s safety, declining to elaborate. “He’s there to get his child, because he, in his mind, believes his child is in danger,” he said.

Police have said that Nutall was holding the baby when he was shot, but Hopson said that was not true. The city of San Diego and police did not respond Saturday to messages seeking comment.

San Diego police had earlier released a 10-minute video of the incident that includes the 911 call, police attempts to find Nutall and the shooting, which occurred at 10:27 p.m.

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The 911 call is partly unintelligible, but police said his former girlfriend opened her bedroom door after he threatened to shoot through it. A man, identified as Nutall, then grabs the phone, not knowing who is on it and that police were on the way, and states, “If the police come to this door I am going to kill everything in here. I promise you that. So you call 911, I’m killing people.”

When officers arrived, police said Nutall ran away with the infant, and he was later found hiding in bushes near other apartments. The body camera of Gladysz shows the officer ordering Nutall to show his hands or he will shoot, right before the man darts out of the bushes and Gladysz fires several shots.

The officer can be heard saying Nutall pointed a gun at him but he didn’t see the baby. The police later found the gun in the parking lot of a trolley station that Nutall had run through while trying to evade police. In a video still, police highlighted what they said was an object in his right hand that Gladysz may have mistaken for a weapon. The infant was found near Nutall after he was shot. Police said he was holding the girl under his left arm at the time of the shooting.

However, Nutall had already put his daughter down prior to the shooting, Hopson said, “expecting and praying it wouldn’t be the case that the officers would just start shooting at him.”

An investigation into the shooting is being conducted by the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, which will be reviewed by the San Diego County district attorney’s office to determine if criminal charges are warranted against officers, according to the police video.

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The investigation is being monitored by the FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office, while the Police Department’s internal affairs will look to see if any policies were violated. A shooting review board will also evaluate the officers’ tactics, according to the video.

Gladysz, a patrol officer, had been employed by the department for a year and a half prior to the shooting, according to the sheriff’s department.

The federal lawsuit seeks various damages and claims the shooting resulted from “policies, practices and customs” that result in “unconstitutionally inadequate treatment for individuals of [African] descent.”

Hopson said Nutall was shot four times, once in each limb, and has suffered nerve or orthopedic damage that has made him bound to a wheelchair. He was hospitalized for more than a month after the shooting, and his release on bond is being sought so he can receive better medical care, Hopson said.

The lawsuit was filed by Hannah Hopson, a California attorney who is a partner in the Hopson Firm, a Chicago law firm founded by her father Douglas Hopson. Hopson said he plans to seek permission to participate in the case, though he is not admitted to the state bar here. Another attorney is representing Nutall in the criminal case.

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San Diego, CA

San Diego sues federal government over razor wire fence near U.S.-Mexico border

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6 hours ago

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January 6, 2026

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San Diego sues federal government over razor wire fence near U.S.-Mexico border


The city of San Diego has filed a lawsuit against the federal government that alleges the construction of a razor wire fence near the U.S.-Mexico border constitutes trespassing on city property and has caused environmental harm to the land.

The complaint filed Monday in San Diego federal court states that razor wire fencing being constructed by U.S. Marines in the Marron Valley area has harmed protected plant and wildlife habitats and that the presence of federal personnel there represents unpermitted trespassing.

The lawsuit, which names the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Defense among its defendants, says that city officials first discovered the presence of Marines and federal employees in the area in December.

The fencing under construction has blocked city officials from accessing the property to assess and manage the land, and the construction efforts have” caused and will continue to cause property damage and adverse environmental impacts,” according to the lawsuit.

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The suit seeks an injunction ordering the defendants to cease and desist from any further trespass or construction in the area.

“The city of San Diego will not allow federal agencies to disregard the law and damage city property,” City Attorney Heather Ferbert said in a statement. “We are taking decisive action to protect sensitive habitats, uphold environmental commitments and ensure that the rights and resources of our community are respected.”



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San Diego, CA

Padres roster review: Sung-Mun song

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18 hours ago

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January 6, 2026

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Padres roster review: Sung-Mun song





Padres roster review: Sung-Mun song – San Diego Union-Tribune


















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SUNG-MUN SONG

  • Position(s): Third base, second base
  • Bats / Throws: Left / Right
  • 2026 opening day age: 29
  • Height / Weight: 6-foot / 194 pounds
  • How acquired: Signed as a free agent in December 2025
  • Contract status: A four-year, $15 million deal will see Song make $2.5 million in 2026, $3 million in 2027, $3.5 million in 2028 and $4 million in 2029 if he does not opt out of last year; Half of his $1 million signing bonus is due in January 2026 and the other half in 2027; There is a $7 million mutual option for 2030.
  • fWAR in 2025: N/A
  • Key 2025 stats (KBO): .315 AVG, .387 OBP, .530 SLG, 26 HRs, 90 RBIs, 103 runs, 68 walks, 96 strikeouts, 25 steals (144 games, 646 plate appearances)

 

STAT TO NOTE

  • .214 — Song’s isolated power in 2025, a career high as he prepared for a jump to the majors. Isolated power measures a player’s raw power (extra bases per at-bat) and Song had a .190 OPS in 2018, in his third year as a pro in Korea, before it dropped to .101 in 2019 and then a career-low .095 in 2023. Hitting 19 homers pushed Song’s isolated power to .178 in 2024 and then a career-high 26 homers push it even higher in 2025.

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San Diego, CA

Poway removes hundreds of trees to make city safer

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1 day ago

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January 5, 2026

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Poway removes hundreds of trees to make city safer


Drivers traveling through the city of Poway may have noticed a dramatic change to the landscape. Since September, more than 1,400 trees — many of them eucalyptus — have been removed as part of the city’s hazardous mitigation grant project aimed at reducing wildfire risk and improving public safety.

Poway is spending roughly $3 million on the effort, which focuses on removing trees that are dead, dying or considered dangerous. Much of the cost is being reimbursed by FEMA. Officials say the project is designed to make emergency evacuation routes safer while improving the overall health of trees along major roadways, rights-of-way and open spaces.

“I was relieved that there were some efforts being put into improving our resiliency to wildfire in our community,” said Poway Fire Chief Brian Mitchell.

Mitchell said spacing out trees can slow the spread of a wildfire and prevent roads from becoming blocked during an emergency.

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“That certainly has the potential to block our first responders from accessing somebody’s house in the middle of an emergency,” Mitchell said.

City leaders also point to storm safety as a key reason for removing hazardous trees under controlled conditions rather than risking falling limbs or entire trees during severe weather.

“I don’t want to be driving down that street and just a random limb just happened to collapse, you know, just hit me,” said Poway resident Dawn Davis.

Davis said she also worries about the threat the trees pose to nearby homes.

“I don’t want anybody’s homes here to be damaged, either by them or fire,” Davis said.

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A Poway spokeswoman said a certified arborist evaluated nearly 6,800 trees in Poway. About 2,800 invasive trees were recommended for removal.

This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC San Diego. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC San Diego journalist edited the article for publication.



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