Police blotter
The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office.
Spray-paint vandals
Several vehicles and homes in an Evans neighborhood were vandalized by spray paint on the night of Valentine's Day.
Philip A. Tapley, of the 1100 block of Hartford Trail in Evans woke Sunday morning to find a vulgar message in red spray paint on his garage door and more red paint on the hood of his Chevy S-10 pick-up, according to a Columbia County Sheriff's Office report.
Joshua Kennedy Brown, and Dan W. Hamilton, both of the 100 block of Hartford Trail, also discovered red and green spray paint on their vehicles, the report stated. The vandals also spray-painted a Chevy van owned by William R. Hagins, of the 1100 block of Dartmore Trail in Evans.
According to Matha Kapfammer, of the 1200 block of Oakton Trail in Evans, two signs in Rivershyre subdivision also were spray-painted, the report stated.
Antoinette McNevin, of the 1100 block of Parkside Trail in Evans told police someone spray-painted the side roof and trunk of a 1993 Saturn owned by Brandy Moody. Moody, of the 400 block of Hasting Cut Off, Martinez, was out of town at the time, but the car was parked at McNevin's home, the report stated.
Two guns stolen
On two separate occasions, a Martinez man discovered a gun stolen from his gun cabinet.
Lester Raymond Clark told police Friday that between Oct. 20 and Nov. 15 someone stole a $300 Beretta CIA edition semiautomatic .22-caliber handgun from the wooden gun cabinet in the bedroom of his home, according to a Columbia County Sheriff's Office report.
Clark also said that between Jan. 25 and Friday someone took a $300 Smith and Wesson stainless-steel revolver from the same cabinet, the report stated. The thief removed the five .38-caliber rounds from the gun and left them in the cabinet.
The rounds were taken as evidence, but because Clark has no serial or model number on either gun, they were not entered into the sheriff's office computer as stolen.
Clark said there was no evidence of forced entry in either incident, and he believes the perpetrator likely is someone who had access to his home, the report stated.
Home safe emptied
A Martinez woman told police Thursday that someone had broken into and cleaned out her safe.
Sherrice Nicole Elrod, of the 4700 block of Red Leaf Court, said someone pulled out the face-plate wiring to her safe and manipulated a way to open it, according to a Columbia County Sheriff's Office report. She discovered $3,500 in $100 bills, $500 in coins, Social Security cards and other personal paperwork missing.
The home is for sale, and an unknown number of real-estate agents and clients have been in and out of the home, the report stated.
Unwanted visitor
An Evans man told police that he found a young man in his garage.
Edward Lamar Taylor, of the 800 block of Noshua Court, told police that he entered his garage about 9:30 p.m. Friday and saw a white man about 15 years old in the corner of his garage, according to a Columbia County Sheriff's Office report. He described the teen as having shoulder-length brown hair and wearing blue jeans and a black jacket with red trim.
A check of the area turned up no suspects.
Missing deposits
The owner of a Motel 6 told police that a week's worth of deposits were missing from the motel's safe.
Adarsh Kumar Gulati, of Martinez told police that Sunday evening he went to gather the week's deposits from a safe inside the motel at 459 Park West Drive in Grovetown, according to a Columbia County Sheriff's Office report.
Gulati said most of the deposits were missing, totaling $7,186.55, the report stated. There were no signs of forced entry.
The case was turned over to an investigator, who was called to the scene.
Fire report
Martinez Fire Department Activity Report for the week of Feb. 8-14:
Structure fires, two; controlled burns, six; fire alarms, nine; medical calls, 35; rescue calls, two; investigations, five; public service, four; and other, one.