Police blotter

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

Mattress movers

A routine traffic stop turns into a theft for a Columbia County deputy.

Deputy David Tiller Reynolds reported that he pulled over a 1994 Ford Crown Victoria for hauling an unsecured mattress on the roof.

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The driver, identified as 22-year-old Reuben Lamont Smith, said a friend gave have him the mattress.

After further investigation, Smith told Reynolds that he took the mattress off a truck at the Serta location at 701 Horizon South Parkway in Grovetown.

Smith was accompanied by Thedrea Aleigh Miller, who was in the back seat helping hold the mattress to the roof.

Reynolds took both men into custody.

Beating reported

Brickle's Cleaners at 4296 Washington Road in Evans was the site of a simple battery last Tuesday.

Vernon Broadwater of Augusta, a presser at Brickle's, told police that he was beaten by a co-worker, Mack Atheas Bartley of Augusta, while at work.

Broadwater said that Bartley began hitting him when he refused to wash Bartley's personal clothes.

A deputy noted in an incident report that Broadwater had a busted upper lip and several abrasions on his head and arms.

Bartley already had left the business by the time officers arrived.

Delayed report

On Tuesday, an Augusta man called the Columbia County Sheriff's Office to report that he was robbed last November.

Charles William Hock told police that on Nov. 10 someone broke into his unlocked vehicle and stole a $900 watch.

Hock said that he didn't notice the watch was stolen until the day after the robbery and believes it happened while he was Mimmo's Taste of Italy at 362 Furys Ferry Road.

He said that he waited until now to report the theft because he had other priorities. He's reporting the crime now because he needs a police report for insurance purposes.

Auction mishap

After placing the winning bid on eBay, an Evans man said he never received his merchandise.

Sammie Lee Jones of the 700 block of Low Meadow Drive reported to police that he recently bid $2,020 on eBay to buy a Rolex Submariner watch from Mark V. Gasbarro in Altoona, Penn.

Jones said that he won the bid and overnighted a cashier's check to Gasbarro on April 2 to cover the bid.

Jones sent several e-mails to Gasbarro concerning the cashier's check with no results, according to the police report.

Then Jones learned that the check cleared his bank April 8, but he still had not received the watch or made contact with Gasbarro.

Jones told police the he will consider prosecuting if the suspect fails to deliver the watch.

Men tussle

A Martinez man was challenged to a fight outside his home last Tuesday.

Michael Brian McDowell told sheriff's deputies that he was at his home at 532-B Ridge Crossing with some friends when a man identified in the report as Jimmy King started yelling at him from outside.

McDowell said that King was challenging him to come out and fight.

He told police that he went outside with his roommate, Eric Ray Andis, to tell King to leave when King punched him in the face.

The two men began pushing and wrestling when McDowell pinned King to the ground. At that point McDowell noticed that King had a knife in his hand so he got up and ran back to his apartment, according to the report.

Andis told police that King screamed outside for awhile and then left.

McDowell said that he would prosecute.

Fire report

Martinez Fire Department activity report for April 6-12: structure fires, four; vehicle fires, three; fire alarms, twelve; medical calls, 26; rescue calls, eight; investigation, one; public service, three.