Police blotter
The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office.
Refused to leave
An Augusta man was taken into custody after he refused to leave the Columbia County Justice Center and Courthouse Annex in Evans on Oct. 29.
Jessie Lightfoot Williams, 65, of the 1400 block of Hephzibah-McBean Road in Hephzibah, appeared before Probate Judge Pat Hardaway for a traffic violation. When his name was called, Williams approached the witness stand but would not answer any questions or make any statements to Hardaway, according to a Columbia County Sheriff's Office report.
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Because Williams was cited for having cardboard over several of his vehicle windows, Hardaway asked him to lead two deputies to the vehicle to check for compliance with window requirements. If he could show the windows were repaired, Hardaway said she would drop the charge, the report stated. Williams failed to cooperate, so Hardaway suspended his driver's license and asked a deputy to lead him off the property, the report stated.
As the deputy escorted him through the front doors of the Evans courthouse on Ronald Reagan Drive, Williams laid down on the front steps and refused to move despite numerous requests by deputies, the report stated.
Williams was taken to the Columbia County Detention Center, where he was charged with disorderly conduct. He was released on bond Oct. 30.
Video taken
The shift manager of a Blockbuster Video store told police Friday that a man left with a video without paying for it.
Zachary Louis Lively, the shift manager at the store at 3946 Washington Road in Martinez, told police that a man set off the store's video theft protection device while walking out the door, according to a Columbia County Sheriff's Office report.
Lively asked the man to step back into the store, but he refused and walked to a vehicle, where he loaded some unknown items into it, Lively told police.
The man returned inside the store and told Lively he had taken his cell phone off and insisted the phone set off the device, the report stated. Lively asked the man and the other person he was with to stay, but the two left the property.
Lively checked the store and found an empty Matrix Reloaded VHS case on the floor in a corner. He told police he believes the man concealed the video on his person and left with it, the report stated. The store's security video was taken as evidence.
Missing valuables
A Grovetown woman returned home Sunday to find items missing from inside a locked safe.
Birdie Palmer, of the 100 block of Cheryl Ann Drive, found an unknown number of pills including Oxicontin, Adderall and Lorcet missing from a locked safe in her bedroom along with $500 in change, according to a Columbia County Sheriff's Office report.
The safe was locked when she left Saturday, and there was no signs of forced entry into the safe, the report stated.
Car damaged
An Appling woman did not know the loud noise she heard Sunday was something hitting her vehicle until she stopped at a friend's house.
April Michelle Schultz, of the 3800 block of Bohler Drive in Appling, was traveling west on Cobbham Road at Story Drive at about 9 p.m. when she heard a loud knock on the left rear of her 1999 Pontiac Grand Am, according to a Columbia County Sheriff's Office report.
After arriving at a friend's home in Appling, Schultz told police she noticed her car had possibly been hit by a rock or brick on the left rear fender, the report stated.
Sheriff's deputy Thad Brown inspected the damage and confirmed Schultz's theory. Though no suspects were located, Schultz was given information on victim's rights and to assist in having her car repaired.
Fire report
Martinez Fire Department Activity Report for the week of Oct. 26 through Saturday:
Structure fires, two; grass fires, two; controlled burns, four; fire alarms, six; carbon monoxide, one; medical calls, 22; rescue calls, five; investigations, six; public service, two; and other, one.