By Robert Salonga
Bay Area News Group
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A man convicted earlier this year of an ambush shooting that wounded a Mountain View police officer during a 2022 DUI stop was sentenced Wednesday to a 50 years to life sentence.
Jeffrey Thomas Choy, 43, of Union City, was convicted May 6 of attempted murder and assorted gun charges. The attempted murder sentence, which consisted of consecutive 25 years to life terms for the charge and a gun enhancement, was the maximum term he could have received for the shooting.
Choy was also sentenced to a separate four-year sentence for illegally having the gun used to shoot Detective Raymond Clutter on July 16, 2022 , based on him having prior felony convictions at the time.
At the sentencing Wednesday, the court gallery was filled with members of the Mountain View Police Department , as Choy, clad in a brown jail-issued top and red pants, looked toward Judge Brian Buckelew.
Clutter, who has since returned to police duty, told the judge Wednesday about the ongoing trauma he suffers from the shooting in calling for a maximum sentence.
“I stand by this court today not just as a survivor of violent crime but a man whose entire life was shattered … the moment the defendant pulled the trigger,” Clutter said. “I was forced to face the stark terrifying possibility that I would never see my wife or children again. The psychological aftermath of almost dying is a slow, agonizing burn.”
He continued to describe how the shooting disrupted his ability to be a reliable police officer and family man, saying he is “trapped in a state of exhausting hypervigilance” at work and home, calling it an “invisible exhausting burden that never leaves me.” He also described how the shooting also derailed an ascending Army career and put him through an adversarial workers compensation process he said worsened his trauma.
“Every interaction is shadowed by the exhausting effort to mask my internal struggle,” Clutter said. “The version (of me) that returned home to my family is fundamentally different … The defendant stole my peace, my health, and my family stability.”
Judge Buckelew said in court Wednesday that Choy exercised “a complete disregard for human life when he fired two gunshots at Detective Clutter,” and referenced how when the shooting occurred, Choy was out on bail for a March 2022 gun-possession arrest and charge. He also criticized the seeming casualness of Choy’s decision to shoot Clutter, saying he was struck by “the banality of the evil.”
“Every police officer who walks up to a car at a traffic stop does so with a degree of uncertainty that most people will never experience,” Buckelew said. “What happened here was not simply a crime against one police officer. It was an attack on the basic principle that allows a civilized society to function.”
The judge later said, “Mr. Choy, a three striker, fired twice at a police officer during a traffic stop at point blank range with the intent to kill him,” adding that the fact Clutter survived does not diminish the gravity of his crime.
Choy was banned from having firearms because he was convicted of felony residential burglary in 2008 and felony attempted robbery in 2015, both in Alameda County . In the attempted robbery case, Choy was accused of demanding money from a woman holding her 7-month-old child and then punching her when she refused. He was released from prison for the latter conviction in 2020.
The attempted murder conviction was accompanied by two charging enhancements because the shooting targeted a police officer and used a gun. Choy was also found guilty of two sets of gun charges — three felony counts each — related to his possession of the gun he used to shoot the officer, and a gun possession case from four months prior, and violating his firearms prohibitions as a felon.
Clutter was working a DUI enforcement shift less than an hour after midnight when he saw a man driving a gold Ford Explorer run a stop sign near Villa and Hope streets, then speed through a four-way intersection.
Investigators say that after the Ford driver — since identified as Choy — stopped near Wild Cherry Lane, the officer walked up to the driver side of the vehicle, which had the windows rolled down. After a quick exchange of pleasantries, he heard the sound of someone racking the slide of a handgun.
Moments later, Clutter saw Choy point a black semi-automatic handgun out of his window, and two shots rang out. Body-camera footage shows the exact moment when Choy pointed his gun and opened fire.
One bullet hit Clutter in his left forearm then in the left shoulder, but was stopped by his bulletproof vest, all as he turned and dove for safety. He was treated and released from the hospital on the same day.
Choy drove away but after less than a mile crashed vehicle near Higdon Avenue and running away. Authorities say he hid for several hours in a laundry room before leaving the area.
About 24 hours later, an Alameda County Sheriff’s Office surveillance plane tracked Choy to a Black Bear Diner in Fremont , and U.S. Marshals and Mountain View police detectives arrested him after a brief foot chase.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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