Police blotter
The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia and McDuffie county sheriffs' offices.
Man tries to steal DVDs
A shoplifter attempted to steal five DVDs from a local Blockbuster.
A Blockbuster manager at the Martinez location on Washington Road reported to police that a man in his mid-30s wearing a black denim coat and black pants entered the store and began browsing.
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When the suspect tried to leave, according to an incident report, he set off the security alarm. A Blockbuster employee grabbed the suspect by the arm and five DVDs fell from under the man's coat.
The suspect ran outside and fled in what was described as a gold Dodge Intrepid with a Gerald Jones auto dealership paper tag and slight body damage on the rear of the vehicle.
The store's security video caught the attempted theft on tape.
The Radio Shack at 3830 Washington Road in Martinez reported a shoplifterwho matches the description of the Blockbuster suspect.
A salesman with Radio Shack told sheriff's deputies that the suspect stole a $99 DVD player. The salesman said that he didn't see the theft, but the man was the only person in the store at the time of the robbery.
The only differences in Radio Shack's and Blockbuster's descriptions is that Radio Shack said the suspect was in his mid-20s and that he was driving a gray Intrepid.
Debt leads to fight
Two Harlem men came to blows after an argument over an unpaid debt last Tuesday, according to police reports.
Paul Douglas Cooper II told authorities that Jabos Dorsey Davis of Harlem, with a woman identified as Nicole Wells, arrived at his house on the 1600 block of Swint Road in Harlem on Tuesday to collect a debt.
Cooper told police that he initially argued with Wells over the amount of the debt and then she struck Wells in the face. Cooper said he was attempting to defend himself from Wells' attack when Davis joined the fray.
Cooper told deputies that he and Davis "fought hard" until his mother arrived, and Davis and Wells left.
A deputy said he was unable to contact Davis or Wells at the time of the report. No action was taken at that time.
Cooper refused medical treatment.
Unwelcome find
An Evans woman was greeted with a bottle of urine on her doorstep last Tuesday morning.
Janet R. Chiu of the 4100 block of Mullikin Road told police that sometime between midnight and 8 a.m. someone left the bottle in her doorway.
She also told officers that there have been several instances in the past two weeks when someone has damaged her property, including a large dent to a sliding metal door.
Fire started in woods
Deputy Nathan Mercer of the Columbia County Sheriff's Office responded to a fire at 6213 Otis Way in Harlem on Monday afternoon at the request of the Harlem Volunteer Fire Department.
Mercer wrote in an incident report that he saw three different fires in a wooded area between 6213 and 6215 Otis Way.
Mercer also wrote that before he could say anything the resident of 6213 Otis Way, John Kenneth Sikes, told him, "I didn't do it."
According to the report, Mercer began interviewing Sikes, who eventually said, "I'm tired of lying. I tried to burn the woods down, because I don't like the way it looks."
The report states that Sikes' blood-alcohol level was O.12.
Offender fails to register
A Thomson man was arrested last week for failing to register as a sex offender, according to a McDuffie County Sheriff's Office report.
Howie Peebles, 24, of the 300th block of Joshua Circle Road in Thomson, recently moved to McDuffie County and failed to register with the sheriff's office regarding his previous conviction.