Middle Georgia Man Gets Stiff Prison Sentence After Standoff With Police

A Warner Robins man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for shooting at federal and local law enforcement officers trying to take him into custody on felony warrants.

Renaldo Smith, 33, had previously pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and one count of using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

Smith was wanted on state felony warrants when the U.S. Marshals Service learned in January of last year that he was at a home in Warner Robins. When marshals tried to execute a search warrant there, Smith fired multiple shots from inside the residence.

The Warner Robins Police Department’s SWAT team then arrived on the scene, and a police negotiation team communicated with Smith for hours to try to get him to stand down peacefully. When that didn’t work, police deployed pepper spray into the home, and Smith was taken into custody after an exchange of gunfire.

Inside the residence, police recovered an automatic pistol and a rifle.

“Renaldo Smith put the lives of many people at risk when he opened fire on law enforcement officers attempting to take him safety into custody,” U.S. Attorney Peter Leary said Friday. “These highly trained officers are to be commended for their display of bravery in the line of duty and for safely bringing the defendant into custody.”

Smith had been convicted of several prior felonies, including robbery by force and possession of methamphetamine.