EL CAJON, Calif. — A man who allegedly tried to kill an El Cajon police officer by attacking him with a baseball bat pleaded not guilty on Monday to attempted murder and other charges.
Julian Kurko, 26, is accused in the March 4 attack outside a Walmart on Fletcher Parkway.
Kurko is also charged with robbery and assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer. He faces 47 years to life in prison if convicted of all counts.
According to Lt. Randy Soulard, the officer contacted Kurko following
reports that a man was "committing a theft and threatening citizens.'' According to Soulard, Kurko swung the bat at the officer's head, but the lawman was able to deflect the blow and restrain Kurko until backup arrived. During that time, Kurko allegedly "continued to threaten to kill him.''
Body-worn camera footage shows the officer approaching a man, allegedly Kurko, and asking him to drop the bat before the bat-wielding man swings at the officer. After he's restrained, the man in the video can be heard saying, "I'll (expletive) kill you, (expletive)'' and "I want to kill you, bro.''
“The judge, based on the charges and the history, made a finding that he should be held without bail,” Deputy District Attorney Shane Waller said outside court.
Court records showed Kurko has a criminal history dating back to 2013, including two prior convictions for resisting an officer, making criminal threats, and carrying a concealed dagger.
John Kurko, the owner of the Vision Center for Spiritual Living church in Mission Gorge is the defendant's adoptive father.
“I adopted Julian. He was in the foster system from the age of six,” the father told CBS 8. “I tried to help Julian through the system. I took on a foster child and tried to help him out, and our system is not equipped to continue helping people like him.”
Kurko said this son needs to take medication, he is homeless, bipolar and possibly schizophrenic.
“One of the issues is, he sees things. He thinks the Illuminati is real. And so my guess is police are part of that process. So, he thought and he saw that they were the Illuminati,” said the father.
“If you look at the video you can see Julian walking down and he doesn't realize it's a policeman. As soon as he realized it was a policeman, that's when that Illuminati thought goes into his head.” Kurko said.
“I’m hoping that our system, whatever happens here, that there's a system that's going to be able to help him. Because if you just put him back in jail, and he just sits there he will rot. And he'll be the same guy that comes out whatever number of years later,” said Kurko.
The father said his son was released from the county’s psychiatric hospital a week and a half before the incident with the bat.
“When he went into the psych hospital off of Rosecrans Street, they only kept him for 26 hours and put him back on the street again. Usually on a 5150, when the police would pick them up they would keep him for 72 hours, but that's not the case anymore,” said Kurko.
The judge ordered that the defendant be evaluated in jail for psychiatric medication. Kurko is set to be back in court on March 21.
WATCH: El Cajon Police Department body cam video, violent assault on police officer: