5th Officer-Involved Shooting For Richmond County Sheriff’s Office

Augusta, GA—Three Richmond County narcotics officers tried to arrest 30-year-old Michael Nestor, Tuesday night, on several outstanding warrants which included drug and weapon charges. The arrest attempt ended with officers shooting and killing Nestor. Sheriff Ronnie Strength says the officers had been investigating Nestor for about a month and went to his house after they received a tip.

Sheriff Ronnie Strength, Richmond County Sheriff’s Office: “We did receive information last night. The reason that we were there that he had rented a truck and he was loading up and trying to go back to Atlanta.”

Sheriff Strength says the deputies were approaching Nestor’s house when he backed his car toward the deputies and that’s when shots were fired. The sheriff says, moments later, Nestor drove into a nearby yard, got out of his car, and collapsed.

Sheriff Ronnie Strength: “They are trained like everybody to protect themselves and that’s what they were doing and they are tried to stop the threat and that’s what we were doing.”

This is the 5th officer-involved shooting in Augusta in the past year. In November 2008, an off-duty investigator shot a man inside the Captain D’s, along Wrightsboro Road. In December 2008, two deputies were at the center of a controversial shooting at Cherry Tree Crossing. Also in December, a hostage incident in Hephzibah left a woman dead. And, just last week, a man was gunned down after a domestic dispute. The sheriff says these shootings should not shine a negative light on his office.

Sheriff Ronnie Strength: “All of the shootings were justifiable and we don’t wake up in the morning saying, ‘let’s go out and see if we can get into a shootout.“ These guys are not thinking about that they are thinking of going home at the end of the day.”

The sheriff says those officers involved in the shootings do not have anything questionable in their file.

The three officers involved in Wednesday night’s shooting have been placed on administrative duties pending the outcome of the investigation.

The two deputies involved in the shooting last week are back on the street.

Deputies Sylvester Rosier and Chadwick Plueger shot and killed Terry Ramsey on November 12th.

Investigators say Ramsey was holding his estranged wife at knifepoint when he came at one of the deputies and was shot. Sheriff Strength says the investigation into that shooting isn’t over, but he’s comfortable the deputies will be cleared.