Southeast / Long Beach : Suspect in Shooting of Sheriff’s Deputy Surrenders After 2-Hour Standoff

A man suspected of shooting a Riverside County sheriff’s deputy last month surrendered in a Long Beach apartment Wednesday morning after a two-hour standoff with police.

An anonymous tipster informed the Riverside Sheriff’s Department that Arabian Nkimotu, 26, was staying in an apartment in the 2200 block of Bermuda Avenue, Long Beach police and Riverside Sheriff’s Department said. They are unsure how he knew the family that lives there or how long he had been there.

The Sheriff’s Department has linked Nkimotu to the Dec. 27 shooting of the Riverside deputy, who was shot when he pulled over a car with a broken headlight and expired registration tags, said Riverside Sheriff’s Department Det. Michele Amicone. The deputy is in stable condition with wounds to the chest, back and arm.

Nkimotu, a Moreno Valley resident, remained in the apartment after police negotiators speaking by phone secured the family’s release at about midnight. He surrendered to police more than an hour later.

Detectives searched the apartment and found a handgun and a plane ticket to Houston with a connecting flight to Washington belonging to Nkimotu. They have not determined if the gun they found was the same one used in the assault on the deputy.

Nkimotu was released from Pelican Bay State Prison in 1992 after serving four years for voluntary manslaughter.