Police blotter

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

Kicked out of car

An argument between a Richmond County couple ended with a woman reportedly being kicked out of a car on Interstate 20 near Grovetown.

Natasha Lenett Benton of Hephzibah told police she and her Augusta boyfriend started arguing while riding in his car. It turned physical when he pulled the car over on I-20 and began choking her, according to a sheriff's office report.

She said the man slapped her several times while trying to force her out of the car. Benton's boyfriend eventually pushed her out of the car and drove off, the report stated.

A deputy noted in the report that Benton had two small cuts on her right elbow.

Counterfeit rent

A Martinez woman paid her rent with counterfeit money Monday, her landlord reported to police.

Kenneth Leroy Smith of Hephzibah said a woman renting a residence on the 100 block of Old Evans Road paid him with four $100 bills.

Smith was concerned about two of the bills and asked the renter if they were fake. She assured him they were real, according to a sheriff's office report.

He took the money to a Georgia Bank and Trust branch on Columbia Road, where a teller told him the money was counterfeit, the report stated.

Investigators were called to the scene, and the funny money was taken into evidence.

Teen threatened

A Martinez teen said he was accosted and threatened inside the Evans Wal-Mart on Monday.

Christopher Franklin Burnett, 17, told police he was confronted by a man in his early 20s who told him to leave his girlfriend alone or he would kill him.

Burnett told officers he was afraid and would prosecute if the suspect was identified.

Mailbox vandals

Five mailboxes were damaged at homes on the 100 block of Buckboard Drive in Martinez last weekend.

Residents of the homes said they do not know what caused the damage, which they reported occurred sometime between April 3 and 5.

They estimate the overall damage to be $300, according to a sheriff's office report.

Police are investigating.

Firecracker damage

A bombed mailbox was reported by an executive of a religious center on Monday.

A police investigation uncovered that a midget bomb firecracker exploded inside the mailbox of the Augusta Jewish Community Center, on the 800 block of Weinberger Way, Evans.

Leah Ronen, the executive director of the center, reported the incident to authorities, who are still investigating.