A fugitive wanted by the U.S. Marshals was captured over the weekend by Calera police who found him in a makeshift shelter off Interstate 65.

Timothy Jabbar Wyatt, 41, had been sought by the Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force since 2019, said U.S. Marshal Marty Keely.

Wyatt was wanted on charges of attempted rape, kidnapping, and second-degree assault out of Chilton County and a failure to appear warrant out of Autauga County.

In Sunday’s predawn hours, a Calera patrol officer stopped on I-65 to help what appeared to a motorist with a disabled vehicle.

Calera police Chief David Hyche said as the officer approached, the person dropped food and a case of water and fled into the woods.

Additional officers responded and tracked the man into a heavily wooded area several hundred yards from the interstate.

Hyche said they found a makeshift shelter and took Wyatt into custody. He was in possession of a gun.

Wyatt, the chief said, has more than 20 prior arrests and was wanted for numerous violent crimes with warrants in four Alabama counties.

Central Alabama Crime Stoppers in 2020 described Wyatt as a “violent sex offender” with previous arrests for kidnapping, sodomy, rape, attempted rape, robbery, attempted murder and domestic violence, as well as drugs and weapons charges.

In the Chilton County cases, authorities previously said, the victims were choked unconscious and beaten.

Following his Sunday arrest, Wyatt was booked into the Shelby County Jail where he is being held on charges of third-degree burglary, third-degree theft of property, criminal mischief and certain persons forbidden to possess a firearm. Those warrants were issued in 2021.

Hyche commended his officers for the arrest.

“Stopping to help stranded motorists leads to a fugitive arrest,’’ Hyche said. “This case is a perfect example of proactive policing making our community a safer place.”

“There are much better locations for a fugitive’s camp site than Calera, Alabama,’’ the chief said.