A man accused of fatally shooting a South Georgia police officer was found hiding in his sister's trunk during a traffic stop, a Florida sheriff said.
Royheem Delshawn Deeds, 24, of Helena, was booked into the Nassau County, Fla., jail north of Jacksonville just before 3 a.m. Monday, according to online jail records.
Deputies found him after they received a call about a suspicious vehicle, Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper said during a news conference Monday. They stopped the car as it was heading to Gainesville on U.S. 1 and Teston Lane.
Franshawn Deeds, Royheem Deeds’ sister, was driving the vehicle, Leeper said. Her boyfriend, Jamil Mitchell, was in the passenger’s seat.
Franshawn Deeds, 22, and Mitchell, 32, both of Lumber City, were arrested for hiding a fugitive, Leeper said. All three suspects are awaiting extradition to Georgia.
Royheem Deeds’ arrest came nearly 30 hours after authorities said he shot Eastman police Officer Tim Smith as the officer investigated a suspicious person call about 9:30 p.m. Saturday at the intersection of Smith and Main streets. Eastman, in Dodge County, is about 55 miles south of Macon.
Smith returned fire, but Deeds got away, Georgia Bureau of Investigation spokesman Scott Dutton said.
The GBI initially offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to Deeds’ arrest. The U.S. Marshals Service added $5,000 to that amount.
Smith, a father of three who joined the Eastman Police Department in February 2011, died from his wounds at an area hospital. He was not wearing a protective vest, Dutton said.
Monday would have been Smith’s 31st birthday.
His death, the second fatal shooting of a Georgia police officer in the line of duty this year, came just five weeks after a gunman killed five officers in Dallas in an ambush on July 7. Just 10 days later, three officers in Baton Rouge were killed.
In a separate incident just hours after Smith's death, two teenagers were arrested in connection with the shooting of a Marietta police officer early Sunday morning as the officer responded to a call about people breaking into cars outside an apartment complex on Franklin Road. The officer is expected to recover from the shot to his leg.
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