Police blotter
The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office.
Murder arrests
Columbia County authorities arrested three Harlem residents Friday morning in connection with the slaying of 43-year-old Patricia Ann Labran in May 1996.
About 6:30 a.m., police arrested Bob Allen Frails, 29, at his house on the 400 block of White Road, charging him with murder and concealing a death, Columbia County sheriff's Capt. Steve Morris said.
They also arrested Frails' father, Theodore Thaddeus Frails Sr., 53, at the same house and Kimberly Deon Lee, 37, of the 4000 block of Gordon Highway.
Both were charged with concealing a death and hindering the apprehension of a criminal. Lee also was charged with a probation violation, according to jail officials.
Labran, who also was known by her maiden name, Ann Moore, was found on the side of Old Blythe Road outside Harlem. According to autopsy reports at the time, she died from a blow to the back of her head.
Teen sentenced in death
The last of four teens accused in the 2002 death of an Evans man pleaded guilty and was sentenced Monday.
Shannon Devon Patton, 18, pleaded guilty to kidnapping with bodily injury, burglary, robbery and theft by taking an automobile for his role in the Nov. 2002 death of Jack Murray, 63, of Oakton Trail. Superior Court Judge Bernard Mulherin Jr. sentenced Patton to the maximum of 70 years in prison to be served concurrently with a mandatory life prison sentence for the kidnapping charge.
Authorities said Patton and three other teens, who were already sentenced in the case - Marcus Torez McCord, 19, and Randy Allen Conrad II, 17, both of Martinez, and Daniel Joseph Newton Jr., 17, of Augusta - broke into Murray's home, robbed him and beat him before driving him to Edgefield County, S.C. His body was found burned in the trunk of his car on Deep Step Road.
Patton and Newton still face the death penalty for murder charges in South Carolina.
Missing Corvette
A Corvette was found missing from a local car lot Jan. 3 after workers performed an inventory check.
John S. Herrera, a salesman for Pontiac Master GMC, told police after a check, a 2002 Chevrolet Corvette convertible was discovered missing from the used-car lot at 3710 Washington Road, Martinez, according to a Columbia County Sheriff's Office report.
The sports car was last test-driven Jan. 2, but no information was gathered about the person test who drove it, the report stated. Herrera told police that the original keys in the lock box did not match the dealership's spare keys.
The Corvette was entered in the sheriff's office computer as stolen.
'Agent' calls
The manager of a local cellular phone store called police Thursday after days of fielding calls from a self-proclaimed special agent.
Vejicia Marquette Francis, the manager of First Cellular at 403 Furys Ferry Road told police that, beginning Jan. 6, a man claiming to be an agent repeatedly called the store looking for one of Francis' employees, according to a Columbia County Sheriff's Office report. The caller raised his voice and cursed at Francis, the report stated.
On Thursday, Francis told the man not to call again, but he kept calling and told Francis he would call every 10 minutes, the report stated.
Francis told police she would prosecute if the caller is identified.
Cat taken
A cat belonging to an unidentified owner disappeared from a Harlem pet boarder Jan. 7.
Betty Sanders Turner, owner of Tail Waggers pet boarding business at her Harlem residence, told police that a man who identified himself as Vic Mask contacted Turner in December to board his cat while he went to Texas to visit his sick mother, according to a Columbia County Sheriff's Office report.
Mask told Turner he could not locate her business and asked if she could pick the cat up from the Grovetown Animal Clinic, which she did Dec. 19, the report stated. The cat remained boarded at Tail Waggers until Jan. 7, when the cat disappeared.
Turner noticed the cat missing and initially assumed the cat escaped the kennel. After searching for the cat with no results, Turner realized the cat's carrier that was stored in another room and the cat's food also were missing, the report stated.
Turner told police she would contact the Grovetown Animal Clinic for any information on Mask to see if he got the cat and to make arrangements for him to pay the $200 boarding fees.
Fire report
Martinez Fire Department Activity Report for the week of Jan. 4-10:
Structure fires, three; grass fire, one; dumpster fire, one; controlled burns, four; fire alarms, five; medical calls, 20; rescue calls, seven; investigations, three; public service, two; public safety assistance, one and other, one.