Report Says Officer Fired in Self-Defense

A 30-year Oxnard police officer acted in self-defense when he shot a knife-wielding mentally ill man after he stole a pack of cigarettes last summer, county prosecutors ruled Friday.

Sgt. George Pultz killed Robert Sterling Jr., 30, of Oxnard when the suspected robber lunged at the officer with a kitchen knife, according to a 15-page report by Deputy Dist. Atty. James D. Ellison.

Minutes before the Aug. 29 shooting, investigators found that Sterling had stolen a package of cigarettes from the Tinee Giant Market on Bard Road. When the manager of the store tried to stop the theft, Sterling brandished the knife and fled.

According to the report, Officer Mike Day saw Sterling near the corner of Bard Road and San Simeon Street. Day told prosecutors that Sterling ran toward his police car with the knife drawn. Two patrol cars arrived and Sterling--still brandishing the knife--confronted Officer Jim Seitz, who rolled up his window and locked his door, the report said.

Sterling then rushed Pultz, who was opening his car door, and the officer shot him twice.

The coroner reported that Sterling died from a gunshot wound to the back that “could be consistent with Mr. Sterling standing in front of the shooter and then rotating his torso to the right at the time the shot was fired,” the report concluded.

The second shot grazed Sterling’s left arm.

The coroner’s report said Sterling was not drunk or on drugs at the time of the shooting. But the report noted that Ventura County mental health officials had diagnosed Sterling as suffering from schizophrenia.