Police blotter

The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office.

Grovetown man dies in custody

The Grovetown Department of Public Safety was informed of a planned drug deal that ended in a man swallowing a possible narcotic.

Grovetown officers watched a location off VFW Road late Saturday when Eric Elbert Rolland arrived. When officers announced themselves, Rolland ran, but was caught and searched, said Capt. Gary Owens. Rolland was taken to the Grovetown detention center, where he was searched again and booked. Officers said Rolland began acting strange - agitated and hyperactive - before telling the booking officer he swallowed something, Capt Owens said. A jailer noted that Rolland said he had swallowed a cocaine substance, said Special Agent Mike Seigler of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Officers contacted EMS and took Rolland to Doctors Hospital, where he was pronounced dead by Vernon Collins, deputy coroner. The body is being sent to Atlanta for a full autopsy, which is standard procedure, Collins said.

Grovetown authorities called in the GBI as an objective agency to investigate Rolland's death.

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Man killed while walking down center of I-20

A Jackson, S.C., man was hit and killed late Sunday while walking down the center of Interstate 20's eastbound lane.

Troy Green, 23, of Cathwood Road, was walking on or near the hash marks of the eastbound lane of Interstate 20 near the Belair Road exit when he was hit by a vehicle driven by Paul Malony, of Sweetwater Road, Lawrenceville, Ga., said Columbia County Sheriff's Office Capt. Steve Morris.

Green was taken to Medical College of Georgia Hospital, where he was pronounced him dead at 12:09 a.m. Monday, said Vernon Collins, deputy coroner.

Malony told officers he did not see Green until he struck the windshield of Malony's 2000 Volkswagen Jetta. Green landed between the outside of the eastbound lane and the Belair Road on-ramp. He was wearing a black coat and other dark clothing, Capt. Morris said.

No charges have been filed pending blood tests of both men, Capt Morris said.

Man shoots dog

A Harlem man told police he recently shot a neighbor's dog to protect his children.

The children of Randy Gene Haynes, 40, were playing in the fenced back yard of the residence on the 200 block of Countyline Road, Harlem, when Haynes noticed a Dalmatian-boxer dog growling and barking at the through the fence, a Columbia County Sheriff's Office incident report stated.

Haynes went inside and returned with a .30-30-caliber rifle and shot the dog once. The dog ran a short distance and fell, and Haynes aimed another shot at it, the report stated.

The dog's owner, Laura Lee Drane, 35, of the 300 block of Countyline Road, was called to pick up the dog. Drane told deputies she has had aggression problems with the dog, the report said. Deputies visited Drane's residence Feb. 5 in reference to the same dog.

Spray-paint vandals damage car

An act of vandalism left an Evans man with painted marks on his car.

Thomas Jefferson Clark, 82, of the 600 block of Kimberly Place, discovered someone had spray-painted the hood and fenders of his silver 1997 Buick Century white while it sat in his driveway, a Columbia County Sheriff's Office incident report stated.

The damage is estimated at $500, the report said.

Labor-intensive heist leaves missing plantings

The owner of a local construction company recently found that thieves had dug up and stolen fresh plantings around the entrance to Parkington Estates.

Willis F. Roberson III, owner of Roberson Construction, Augusta, said thieves had taken 29 trees and bushes from the entrance of the neighborhood off Stevens Creek Road, Martinez, according to a Columbia County Sheriff's Office incident report.

The trees and bushes were planted only days before being stolen. The plantings are worth $905.

Homes under construction hit by vandalism

Two uncompleted homes in Grovetown were vandalized recently.

Homes under construction by DeFoor Construction, both on the 4500 block of Country Glenn Lane, were found to have been vandalized by company owner John Baxter DeFoor, a Columbia County Sheriff's Office incident report stated.

$1,000 in damage was done to the door, door frame, sheetrock and vinyl floor in each home. The $500 stove in one home also was vandalized, while the other was stolen, the report stated.

Thomson man arrested for crack

Michael Kendrick of Thomson was charged early Friday morning with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, according to a McDuffie County Sheriff's Office report. Investigators searched Kendrick's Joshua Circle home at about 5:45 a.m. and say they found what appeared to be a large piece of crack cocaine on top of a television. Kendrick was taken to the McDuffie County Jail, and an unidentified woman in the home was released without charge.