Nassau County honor guard raises money for Eric Oliver ceremony

Oliver to be remembered at Police Memorial ceremony in Washington, DC

YULEE, Fla. – The National Honor Guard of Nassau County is raising money to go to Washington, D.C., to honor their fallen brother, Deputy Eric Oliver.

Oliver was killed in the line of duty while he was chasing a suspect. This year will be the first year of many that Oliver will be honored at the Police Memorial ceremony in the nation's capitol.

Recommended Videos



The Honor Guard will leave May 12 so they can be there for a candlelight vigil the next day and walk his family through the event.

Oliver's parents and brothers are also attending. Their trip will be paid for by the non-profit Concerns of Police Survivors, but the six members of the honor guard also want to pay their respects as well and be there for the family.

As of Thursday, they had raised $3,200. They need $6,000 to pay for hotel rooms, plane tickets and other travel costs.

Those who want to donate can send a check made out to "NCSO Charities Inc.," and write "Honor Guard PMD 2017" in the memo section. It can be mailed to the Nassau County Sheriff's Office, attention: Capt. Gregory Foster, 76001 Bobby Moore Circle, Yulee, FL 32097.

Oliver was killed in November 2016 as agents arrested three undocumented workers and put them in a Border Patrol vehicle. One of the men, Francisco Portillo-Fuentes ran. Oliver and another deputy followed him, and Oliver was killed when he was hit by an SUV while chasing Portillo-Fuentes across State Road 200.

Portillo-Fuentes was arrested that night at Atlantic Self Storage on Powers Avenue after a manhunt involving the U.S. Marshals Service, the Nassau County Sheriff's Office, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and the Florida Highway Patrol.

Portillo-Fuentes was deported from the United States in 2011 and again sometime after an Aug. 15, 2016, conviction for DUI. He was arrested in a traffic stop on Philips Highway at 2:15 a.m. May 15, 2016.

After he pleaded guilty to the DUI charge, he was transferred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. According to federal court documents, he re-entered the United States a second time by wading across the Rio Grande River from Mexico to Laredo, Texas.

He was sentenced in March to two years in prison. He will be deported after serving that sentence.