Police reports
The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office.
Suspicious fire
The remnants of a small fire were found recently on the roof of building under construction on the property of a Martinez church.
Roy George Rollins, a manager of Kirby Building, noticed a burn mark on the roof of a building under construction on Westside Baptist Church property, according to a Columbia County Sheriff's Office incident report. Police found someone had lighted a small amount of paper and stuck it under a roof shingle.
The building did not bear any more damage than a small burn hole in the paper on the roof.
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Trio takes electronics
Three people working together emptied a Wal-Mart display case and made away with more than $5,000 in merchandise.
David Allen Walters, loss prevention at the Evans Wal-Mart Supercenter, 4471 Washington Road, noticed three people empty a display case in the electronics section while watching the store's security surveillance tapes from a few days earlier, a Columbia County Sheriff's Office incident report stated.
An employee opened the case for the three. A man acted as a lookout while two women took 12 Sony DVD players with 5.8-inch screens and four RCA DVD players with 7-inch screens. The male carried the merchandise out of the store in one big box, the report stated.
Items stolen, returned
Thieves found receipts for tools at the home of a Grovetown man then returned the tools for cash.
Christopher Van Williams, 30, of the 5800 block of Rockford Drive, found two leather tool belts, a large kerosene heater, an air nail gun and an air compressor missing from his home that is being remodeled, a Columbia County Sheriff's Office report stated. Upon further investigation, he noticed the receipt for the nail gun and compressor was also missing.
Williams called Home Depot, where the tools had recently been purchased, to find that they had been returned that same day by someone who signed Williams' name to the receipt.
Paintball shootings
Three Evans homes recently were hit with colored paintballs on the same evening.
Alberto Grinspun, 60, of the 700 block of Michael's Creek, found where four paintballs hit the front of his residence, dyeing the gray stucco blue, according to the Columbia County Sheriff's Office incident report.
Charles Roger Bagby Jr., 36, was luckier, as the white paint from five paintballs washed off, leaving no permanent damage to his home on the 700 block of Jones Creek Drive.
Paintball shooters also attacked a house owned by Blake Robert Seward, 56, on the 700 block of Jones Creek Drive. Seward heard a loud bang on the front door. When he investigated the sound, Seward found three white paintballs has broken on the door, the incident report stated. Like Bagby's, the paint washed off the door, leaving no permanent damage.
Fire calls
Martinez Fire Department activity report for Jan. 26-Feb. 1: structure fires, two; woods fire, one; grass fire, one; vehicle fires, two; controlled burns, three; fire alarms, five; medical calls, 29; rescue calls, five; investigations, two; public service, two.