A judge on Jan. 27 set bail at $1 million for a Point Loma man who is charged with attempted murder of a San Diego police officer whose leg was broken when he was struck by the man’s car.

Officer Matthew Salisbury was walking up the driveway of the man’s house on Jan. 23 on Inez Street in response to the 911 call by the man’s wife who told police her husband had just cut her fingers with a knife and beat her.

Deputy District Attorney Spencer Sharpe asked for the $1 million bail, saying William Woodward Stephens, 65, “targeted the officer” and drove his Jeep Wrangler in reverse from the garage, hitting him.

Sharpe said the officer had surgery Monday and will have another surgery later as he has “several broken bones.” He was still in the hospital on Monday.

Sharpe told San Diego Superior Court Judge Euketa L. Oliver that Stephens discovered he had lost a good job offer recently and began to drink alcohol. He became violent, punched his wife’s head, and cut her fingers with a knife, he said.

A Feb. 7 preliminary hearing was set, but it probably will be delayed.

Stephens pleaded not guilty to all charges, which include attempted murder of a peace officer and inflicting great bodily injury in the process. He is also charged with assault with a deadly weapon(which is the Jeep Wrangler), and resisting arrest.

Additionally, Stephens is accused of inflicting corporal injury to Sally Stephens, his wife, felony assault, and attempting to dissuade a witness from reporting a crime.

Sharpe filed a criminal protective order against Stephens that bars him from contacting his wife, her sister, and the officer by telephone, social media, mail, or in person, should he be able to post bail.

Sharpe said the attempted murder charge on an officer carries a life sentence in prison if he is convicted. He remains in the central jail.