A 39-year-old Pacifica man who stabbed another man through the ear and into his skull during a jealous outburst in 2010 was sentenced to nine years and four months in prison in San Mateo County Superior Court Thursday, the district attorney said.

Judge Clifford Cretan said it was difficult to have sympathy for the defendant, Arthur John Armstrong, who caused severe and permanent brain damage to the victim when he stabbed him through the left ear with an ice pick, which punctured the victim's skull and entered his brain, District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.

The victim, now confined to a wheelchair without full use of his legs or right arm due to brain injury, addressed the court at Armstrong's sentencing.

"It's hard to talk," he said, grabbing his own right arm by the sleeve and dropping it in his lap.

"I can't talk, can't use arm," he said.

The assault took place in November 2010, when Armstrong saw his ex-girlfriend with the victim near Pacifica Pier, and the two men exchanged glares and verbal insults, Wagstaffe said.

Armstrong threw a lit firecracker at the couple, after which the victim stood up and confronted him.

According to prosecutors, Armstrong charged the man and assaulted him, punching him and swinging his fists.

It was not immediately clear that the victim had also been stabbed in the ear.

Armstrong fled before police arrived, and the victim was in and out of consciousness while trying to give an account of the attack.

Once at the hospital, the victim was placed in a medically induced coma, Wagstaffe said.

Police found the ice pick in some bushes near where the assault occurred, and Armstrong was arrested soon after.

On March 23, while out on bail, Armstrong was seen by police driving over the speed limit in Pacifica.

After a brief pursuit, Armstrong crashed into a parked car and ran away, according to the district attorney's office.

While being pursued on foot, police heard two gunshots fired, and later found a handgun between two houses where Armstrong had fled.

The gun had discharged two bullets and jammed on a third, according to prosecutors.

Armstrong was arrested again, and in April pleaded no contest to evading police and reckless discharge of a firearm.

At his sentencing this morning, Armstrong cried and apologized to his victim, saying the assault "wasn't intentional or on purpose."

The victim's father, who said his son used to be athletic and a hard worker before his injury, is now his primary caretaker.

"I can't take care of him, I don't have many years left myself," he said. "Who's going to take him when I'm gone?"