Police blotter
The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office.
Unexplained fire
State fire officials said they will not be able to determine the cause of a Christmas Eve house fire that killed an elderly Martinez woman.
Marie Pat Oglesby, 76, died of smoke inhalation when she was trapped inside her burning home at 213 Weldon Road. Firefighters were called shortly after 4 a.m. Dec. 24.
The state fire marshal's office ruled the blaze accidental but was unable to determine its origin.
Glenn Allen, a spokesman for the Georgia Insurance and Fire Safety Commissioner's Office, said there were several possibilities for the cause, such as careless smoking and the home's many electrical cords.
One-car crash
Four people were sent to the hospital with injuries Tuesday after an elderly man fell asleep while driving, authorities said.
The single-car wreck happened in Leah at about 1 p.m., said Columbia County sheriff's Deputy Dana Rau.
William Reed, 82, of Lincolnton, crossed the center line while driving west on Ray Owens Road, drove for 350 feet on the shoulder and hit a tree.
Reed's 81-year-old wife, Opal, was airlifted to Medical College of Georgia Hospital and had two broken arms and a broken leg, Rau said.
The other passengers in the 2000 Cadillac Escalade, including an elderly Texas couple visiting the Reeds, were taken to MCG but suffered only minor cuts and bruises.
Reed was at fault for failure to maintain lane but will not be charged, Rau said.
Disorderly conduct
An argument at McDonald's ended in an Evans man being cited for disorderly conduct Monday.
Chris Michael Jarrard of Harlem told police he was at the McDonald's, at 4264 Washington Road in Evans, when the restaurant's custodian, Caldwell Wade Jr., accused him of throwing fireworks at him in the parking lot.
Wade walked away but confronted Jarrard again later saying he wanted to meet him outside, Jarrard stated in a Columbia County Sheriff's Office report.
Witnesses told police that Wade initiated the argument, the police report stated.
Wade was cited for disorderly conduct.
Identity fraud
A letter from a West Coast state's health department warned a Martinez woman that she might be the victim of identity fraud.
Nancy Laverne King, of Rhodes Hill Drive, told authorities she received a letter from the Washington Department of Health and Human Services informing her that she could not receive Medicare, Medicaid or other federally funded health-care services because her license was revoked or suspended.
King said she called someone at the Washington health department, who told her someone was using her name, Social Security number and birth date to defraud the state, according to a Columbia County Sheriff's Office report.
Deputies advised her to take measures to protect her credit as soon as possible, the report stated.
Phone harassment
A Grovetown woman complained to police that she was being harassed with music.
Peggy Merline Birmingham, of Crawford Mill Lane, said in an incident report that someone has been harassing her with phone calls.
She said she received a call just before midnight on Monday, and the person on the other end didn't say anything, according to a Columbia County Sheriff's Office report. Five minutes later, she said she got another call, and the person played music into the phone, the report stated.
When the music stopped, the suspect called her a name and hung up.