Below are selected items from the Columbia County Sheriff’s Department incident reports for the period March 3 to March 8. Incidents that involve juveniles or are of a sensitive nature have not been included.
March 3
Home Invasion, Grovetown – A sheriff’s deputy was dispatched around 3:49 a.m. to the Halton Drive area in response to someone shooting a firearm. Investigations are on-going.
First Degree Burglary, Martinez – A FedEx employee found an apartment door open at 4079 Riverwatch Parkway. Someone had taken an unknown amount in coins and had turned off the power to the apartment. A downstairs neighbor said he heard someone walking around in the apartment but didn’t see anyone.
Identity Fraud, Martinez – A Martinez woman discovered payments on her debit card for purchases on the Facebook pay app. The victim’s brother said he believed her sister-in-law may have been using the card to send him money via Facebook. The victim had loaned the card to her sister-in-law in late February for a water deposit.
First Degree Burglary, Not Forded, Evans – An Evans woman found items missing from her home. There were no signs of forced entry.
Larceny, Martinez – An employee of the Enmark service station on Bobby Jones was reviewing video footage for evidence of a shoplifter when she noticed another shoplifting incident. The video showed an unknown white male walk into the story, grab two canned drinks and put them inside his pocket before walking into the restroom where he secured the items inside his jacket before leaving the store without paying for the drinks. The man got into a blue truck and drove away.
Bad Checks, Grovetown – A Grovetown man reported that when he was going through his checking account, he discovered a check for $3,800 had been deposited in his account and then later, $1,000 was withdrawn from his account. He checked with family member to see if he had deposited the check but he had not. The victim said he was contacted in February by someone claiming to be from the bank, and he had given that person his account information.
Larceny, Grovetown – A Grovetown man realized that his 2010 EZ-Go golf cart had been stolen. He had last seen the car the day before.
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March 4, 2021
Criminal Trespass, Harlem – Someone cut both passenger-side tires of the victim’s car as it was parked in her yard. She neither saw nor heard anything, nor could the sheriff’s deputy who responded to the call find any tire tracks or footprints.
Suspending Utilities By Landlord Without Final Disposition, Appling – A tenant in Appling gave notice that she was moving out of her rental, and the landlord cut off the electricity to the home because he believes the tenant owes him money. The tenant denies owing anything. The deputy advised the tenant of the pre-warrant process.
Larceny, Theft by Deception, Martinez – The victim says he received a phone call from someone claiming to be his grandson. The caller said he had been arrested and needed money to be released. The victim agreed to send $2,350. He made contact with his grandson after he sent the money, and he says his grandson told him he hadn’t been arrested.
Larceny, Shoplifting, Grovetown – A woman in a pink shower cap loaded a 55-inch Samsung TV in a shopping cart at the Grovetown Walmart and then went to the infant clothing area. She selected some items there and went to pay for the clothing but not the TV. She left the TV at the register. She came back and saw that the clerk who had waited on her had been replaced, so she took the cart with the TV in it and went to the grocery area. She left the cart just before the first set of doors in that area. She started talking on the phone, and an employee moved the cart with the TV to the return area. The woman came back in and asked for the TV. She took it and walked through the grocery entrance. An employee asked her for her receipt, but she said her husband had it and kept walking. The store loss prevention officer gave police a CD of the video.
Larceny, Shoplifting, Evans – An unknown man was observed scanning items for purchase at a self-checkout at the Evans Walmart. Once he finished scanning, he canceled the transaction without paying for or returning any of the items. He was later observed walking out of the grocery exit with the items he didn’t pay for. He got in his car and drove away.
First Degree Burglary, Not Forced, Evans – A man noticed his rifle was missing from his bedroom closet. The man thinks whoever took the gun came in through an unsecured window at the pack of his residence.
Theft of Lost/Mislaid Property, Evans – A man checked himself out at a pharmacy self-check register. He asked for $100 back, and when he got his receipt, he left the cash at the register. He went back to get the money, it was missing. The victim said he asked the woman at the register if she’d see the money, but she hadn’t. She said there had been a man in front of her who had already checked out. Video footage confirmed the woman’s story and show an older man folding money from the cash machine at the register and putting it in his right hand. He checked out and then walked to the exit. He drove away in a white SUV.
March 5
Motor Vehicle Theft, Evans – A man reported a 53-foot trailer not being where it was supposed to be. Instead, it was at a truck stop in Shorter Alabama.
Larceny, Theft by Taking, Grovetown – A man was moving from one apartment to another, and he left a few items on the sidewalk outside his apartment while he took other items to his new home. When he returned, his KitchenAid mixer was missing.
First Degree Burglary, Forced Entry, Martinez – A woman and her daughter came home to find the glass back door had been shattered. Some personal items were missing, and the rooms looked as if someone had thrown items on the floor. An investigator was called to the scene.
March 6
Larceny, Shoplifting, Evans – A woman took five clothing items into a dressing room at My Story and a few minutes later walked out after having hung up only four items. Surveillance video shows she had the fifth item concealed in her bag. She left the story without paying for the item.
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Criminal Trespass, Martinez – A man was arrested and jailed for criminal trespass after he was found holding a cardboard sign in the Martinez Walmart parking lot and approaching cars, asking for money. The man told police he knew he wasn’t supposed to be in the parking lot.
Animal Complaint, Applying – An Appling man reported to pit bulls attacked his goats and cows and left them bleeding. He told sheriff’s deputy that he had not seen the dogs before.
Larceny, Theft by Deception, Martinez – An elderly man said he received a phone call from someone claiming to be a lieutenant with the Richmond County Sheriff’s department. The caller said an arrest warrant had been issued for the victim for missing jury duty, but that if he would go to a particular Family Dollar store and purchase a MoneyPak in the amount of $500, and send it to the lieutenant, the arrest warrant would go away. After he made the purchase and gave the serial number for the money pack to the alleged lieutenant, he was told to purchase another MoneyPak card. At that point, he realized he might be a fraud victim, and he called the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office. The Sheriff’s deputy who responded spoke to the alleged lieutenant who hung up when the deputy told him who he was.
Nude or Sexually Explicit Electronic Transmissions, Grovetown – A Grovetown woman had been talking to her ex-boyfriend who was sending her texts containing nude photos and videos of her. He was threatening to post the images to social media and send them to family members. The woman had been sending him money since February 2020 to keep him from posting the videos. She told the sheriff’s deputy that the man’s demands for money were making her think of harming herself. Gold Cross EMS transported the woman to the hospital for evaluation.
Larceny, Shoplifting, Evans – A woman walked out of Academy sports with a duffel bag full of merchandise that she had not paid for. A store employee confronted the woman, and she ran toward Washington Road. Deputies caught the woman in the parking lot and found her in possession of the merchandise, which was valued at $506.41. A felony shoplifting warrant has been filed against the woman.
March 7
Larceny, Evans – A woman ordered about $500 in cleaning products that were delivered by UPS. However, UPS delivered the package to the wrong address. The victim intends to prosecute if the items are not returned to her.
Criminal Trespass, Grovetown – A man refused to leave Quality Inn in Grovetown until he spoke with the manager who was not on site. The hotel employees called the Sheriff’s Department, and when a deputy arrived, he advised the man to leave and call or come back the next day. The man refused, cursed at the deputy and told him to take him to jail. The deputy arrested the man and searched him. He found a “plastic box containing a crystal-like substance” in the man’s front pocket. The man had also left a crystal-like substance in a napkin he used in the breakfast area. An investigator was called in.
Willful Obstruction of Law Enforcement Officers, Appling – A woman at the county jail became agitated, and attendants tried to calm her. When she wouldn’t calm down, the attendants contacted a supervisor and they were told to move the woman to another cell. She became unruly and tried to dig her fingernails into the attendants’ hands and to bite one of them.
Larceny, Shoplifting, Evans – A deputy pulled over a man suspected of shoplifting at Walmart. The man jumped out of the passenger door and fled into the woods. K-9 unit was called in to find the man. They were unsuccessful. A photo of the suspect has been filed with the Records office.
Criminal Trespass, Grovetown – Someone entered the victim’s closed garage while she was out of town and scratched the SUV that was in the garage. The garage was not entered forcibly.
Larceny, Theft by Taking, Martinez – A woman returned from vacation and discovered that her tools and kayak were missing from her garage. The woman contacted her daughter, who told her she’d taken the items to a friend’s house. The woman said the daughter didn’t have permission to take the items and called the Sheriff’s office. She said she’d been having trouble with her daughter lately. The daughter arrived while the deputy was there and said she didn’t think borrowing the items would be a problem. The woman decided not to prosecute her daughter.
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