Three Richmond County narcotics officers were placed on desk duty Wednesday after a shooting the night before that killed a man wanted on several drug charges.
The fatal shooting of Michael Nestor, 30, is the second involving Richmond County sheriff's officers in less than two weeks, and the fourth in less than a year.
At a news conference Wednesday, Sheriff Ronnie Strength said investigators Philip Hambrick, Jason Saal and Mike Swint were involved in the shooting. He said Mr. Nestor was shot multiple times after he tried to strike one of the officers with his car.
The sheriff did not release photos of the officers, saying he didn't want to jeopardize any ongoing cases. According to Sheriff Strength, the events unfolded this way:
The narcotics officers had been watching Mr. Nestor for about a month when they arrived at his home at 1918 Ohio Ave. about 9 p.m. Tuesday. Wanted on several drug charges, including possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and possession of methadone, Mr. Nestor spotted the deputies as they walked toward his driveway. He was sitting in the driver's seat of his Oldsmobile when Investigator Saal approached from the rear and Investigators Hambrick and Swint came to his driver-side door with weapons drawn. They ordered him out of the car but Mr. Nestor backed toward Investigator Saal and the officers fired.
Early indications are that Mr. Nestor was struck in the left arm and neck, Sheriff Strength said. Mr. Nestor's car traveled about 200 feet, where he abandoned it and collapsed in a nearby yard.
Sheriff Strength said the investigators were not wearing their standard uniforms but did have on badges and department-issued rain jackets. They identified themselves as officers when they approached the car. No dash-cam video is available of the shooting because the officers parked a short distance from Mr. Nestor's home and approached on foot to avoid alerting the suspect.
GBI investigators were searching Mr. Nestor's car Wednesday and the sheriff said he did not yet know whether they had found weapons or narcotics inside. He did confirm that Mr. Nestor did not have a weapon on himself. Sheriff Strength said he'd heard unconfirmed reports that Mr. Nestor might have been carrying a narcotic.
According to the Georgia Department of Corrections Web site, Mr. Nestor served just more than a year in Dooly State Prison in Unadilla, Ga., from August 2002 to September 2003 on methamphetamine possession charges in Cobb and Gwinnet counties.
Mr. Nestor's fatal shooting by sheriff's deputies is the second incident in less than a week's time.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is looking into the Nov. 12 shooting of 41-year-old Terry Ramsey. Two deputies involved in that shooting, Sylvester Rosier and Chadwick Plueger, returned to active duty Tuesday night.
The sheriff defended his deputies' actions and said he did not foresee any policy changes on the use of deadly force. Two fatal shootings in 2008 were deemed justified by the GBI.
"We don't wake up in the morning saying 'let's go out and see if we can get in a shoot-out,' " Sheriff Strength said. "Most of these guys are not thinking about that, they're thinking about going home at the end of the day also."
Background information and disciplinary files on the three officers were not immediately available Wednesday but at least one of them had been previously disciplined. Investigator Hambrick was suspended 10 days for posting a picture of himself with his department-issued Glock handgun on his Myspace page in 2006. A fellow deputy was fired and another suspended in that investigation.
When a reporter from The Chronicle called to find out more information about the officers and their training, the sheriff's secretary said he would not be taking any more calls about the shooting Wednesday afternoon.
Reach Adam Folk at (706) 823-3339 or adam.folk@augustachronicle.com.
Sheriff Ronnie Strength has allowed two deputies under investigation for the shooting of a man last week to return to work.
Deputies Sylvester Rosier and Chadwick Plueger were put back on the road patrol Tuesday night. The deputies were placed on administrative duty last week after they shot and killed 41-year-old Terry Ramsey at a home on Metcalf Street. They were responding to a call from Mr. Ramsey's 14-year-old son. When they arrived at the home, deputies found Mr. Ramsey holding a knife to the throat of his estranged wife, Tameka Ramsey. When he refused to drop the weapon, both deputies fired.
"It's not 100 percent finished but I did talk to the GBI (Georgia Bureau of Investigation) and at the point I talked to them they had found nothing to show wrongdoing by the officers," said Sheriff Strength. "Therefore we did put them back on the street."
Richmond County's use of force policy states:
"Deadly force is justified only if a person reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent death or great bodily harm to themselves, a third person, or the commission of a forcible felony.
"...Shooting at or from a moving vehicle shall be avoided in all instances except those which do not endanger innocent persons and are justified by unusual or exigent circumstances."
For details on the use of force policies in Columbia and Aiken counties, see "Police set high bar for using deadly force."
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Something stinks in this case. I dont think the officers are telling the whole truth. Why all of a sudden don't the publish their pictures? Seems to be a coverup of some sort going on.
Someone please tell me why they wouldn't arrest the guy when they caught him with the drugs and the weapon violation? I have a feeling these charges were made after the fact.
It doesn’t have to be a black victim all the time guys! They do it to the whites too.
What are you talking about Fedup? What do you mean why wouldn't they arrest him on the drugs and weapons violations? There was no weapons violation, where did you see that? They were on their way to arrest him for the drug warrants. If they had previosly caught him with the drugs and wasn't in custody how do you know he wasn't arrested and just jumped bail?
Cry on bleeding hearts, do the crime, suffer the consequences!
Lets see how the AWM handles this one...its already started a bit different than others because someone wants photos of the officers. Thats not been the case in other shootings. In addition, a comparison of local police shootings to other cities including numbers and all, means something too...can U guess?
FedUp, the only thing that stinks about this case are your comments. Didn't you read any of the article. These were "narcotics investigators." If they published their pictures what do you think it would do for their 1- Safety, 2-Ongoing cases and 3-Ability to start future covert narcotics investigations. Also I don't remember reading anywhere in the article that he was wanted on weapons charges as you said. Drug charges are often made weeks, months sometimes years after the fact depending on the scope of the investigation. You might be better off keeping your misinformed comments to yourself until all of the facts come out.
Fedup your ignorance is showing, you don't publish pictures of narcotics officers or you not only jeopardize the cases they are working on but you jeopardize their lives as well. If you publish those pictures then you destroy years of work as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in hours of training and background work. Small Minds!!
Why put them on desk duty? We NEED officers like this who aren't afraid to rid the world of scumbag drug dealers. I think they should have a parade in their honor downtown and be rewarded. Augusta police officers don't make much money at all but they risk their lives for their jobs.
justass what u saying bro? r crying abou today? u gotta be ctying something racist today cause he aint black .
No one seems to be concerned about the criminal behavior of the suspect. If he had hit the officer with his car do you think he would have stopped? He played Russian Roulette and he lost. We don't have to pay for his medical care, or to feed and house him, while waiting for another judge to slap him on the wrist and return him to the streets. Sooner or later criminals will get the message. We need more officers with this kind of courage.
may god be with the idiots that have no brain!
by the way not the officers the idiots that post info they no nothing about!
I support these law enforcement officers who did what they had to do to protect the public and rid society of a habitual criminal. I hope eradicate society of more of these scumbags as we go forward.
To start with, I stand up for these officers for doing a good job of getting drugs off the street. These 3 men are fine men. I have known one of the since he was a child and he was a good boy and than into a good man. He has a family of law enforcement behind him. You know officers dont go out there ready to shoot someone, but it does happen. If you think it easy putting a badge on and going out and doing there job to protect all people than apply. It takes special men and women to do this job. So back off the people that are protecting you.
I just thank God that the RCSD shot that scum before he ran an innocent person down. When a felon is running from the police, do you think they obey traffic laws?
i dont need protection I (along with you) have the right to PROTECT MYSELF under the US Constitution. I can read and understand what it says. Too many police think THEY ARE THE ONLY ONES ENTITLED TO CARRY A WEAPON. MANY YEARS AGO THIS WAS NOT THE CASE. Law enforcement did not have this mindset. I am NOT REFERRING TO this case - but in general. Too many in law enforcement become incensed when they discover the LAW ABIDING citizen is LEGALLY is in possession of his firearm. But back to this case. I dont know about you but I DO NOT WANT ANYONE who posts his picture with his Glock on a website having the moral authority afforded to those in law enforcement. Use your head. Think. What kind of mindset is motivated to do that? The answer is the type that has gravitated to law enforcement all too often for far too long. The profile goes like this. Male with a more pronounced than normal superiority/inferiority complex. He feels the need to assert himself & dominate others. This is EXACTLY THE GUY you do NOT WANT in the extremely demanding LE profession. Only the most mentally tough yet stable, strong yet calm individuals should be in LE. Pay them more. glad to pay more taxes for that.