Pursuit ends for Decatur father wanted on assault, domestic violence charges

A 21-year-old Decatur man wanted by DeKalb County Police since 2014 on various charges was apprehended Aug. 1 by the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Unit after he crashed his vehicle while trying to flee deputies.

Deraus Bernard Jeffery was temporarily hospitalized for non-life threatening injuries sustained when he ran his vehicle into a utility pole near Belvedere Plaza on Memorial Drive after deputies tried to pull him over.  Warrants stemming from earlier year incidents had been issued for Jeffery on two charges of felony aggravated assault with a weapon, two charges of misdemeanor family violence battery and four charges of misdemeanor third degree child cruelty.

Jeffery allegedly injured his child’s mother by slamming her to the floor and punching her in the face at his residence on Belvedere Lane in Decatur in April, 2014.  In a similar attack on the same woman nearly a year later, he allegedly struck her with a gun and threatened to kill her. Three children were present during that incident, according to a warrant. In an incident on Jan. 14, 2016, Jeffery allegedly assaulted another woman with a handgun during an argument at her place of employment on Columbia Drive in Decatur.  According to police reports, Jeffery is also the father of the second woman’s child, who witnessed the altercation.

Jeffery is in custody in the DeKalb County Jail facing additional charges of driving while his license was suspended or revoked; three citations for failure to stop at a stop sign; striking a fixed power pole; reckless driving; fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer; and obstructing or hindering law enforcement officers.