WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — A man involved in a 2023 standoff with Warner Robins officers has been sentenced to 25 years in prison, according to the Georgia U.S. Attorney’s Office from the Middle District of Georgia.
33-year-old Renaldo Smith locked himself in his home on Somerset Drive on Jan. 31, 2023 to avoid warrants from law enforcement.
Warner Robins Police said his standoff, which lasted six hours, brought in officers from the Warner Robins Police Department, FBI, U.S. Marshals and the Houston County Sheriff’s Office.
Officers arrived to arrest Smith, who was wanted for six different felonies, including charges of eluding officers, robbery and possession of marijuana and other drugs according to the Macon Regional Crimestoppers.
According to the attorney’s office, the U.S. Marshals Service Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force attempted to conduct a search warrant. Smith opened, quickly shut the door and then fired gunshots from inside the home after the team attempted to enter lawfully.
A WRPD negotiator spoke with Smith for hours, however he did not cooperate. After no solution in sight, WRPD said the SWAT team made a move.
"We tried to limit him so he had to talk to us, so that we could try to bring to a conclusion by getting him to come out," Warner Robins Interim Chief Roy Whitehead said at the scene in 2023.
They said they eventually sent pepper spray to try and get Smith to come out, which is when he opened fire at the officers.
The officers fired back and hit him in the forearm. Smith’s injury was treated at a hospital. No officers were hurt.
“Renaldo Smith put the lives of many people at risk when he opened fire on law enforcement officers attempting to take him safely into custody,” U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary said . “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.”
He’ll serve a 25 year sentence, which will be followed by five years of supervised release.
Smith was previously found guilty of aggravated assault on a law enforcement office and use of a firearm in a violent crime.
"He continued saying that he did not want to go to jail," Whitehead said at the scene in 2023.