Police blotter

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

Police arrested a Harlem High School student on child molestation charges for an incident that reportedly happened in April at the school.

Christopher Allen Hall, 20, of the 300 block of Creekside Drive in Grovetown, was taken into custody after the incident involving a 15-year-old student was reported last week, said Columbia County sheriff's Capt. Steve Morris.

Hall, is registered with authorities as a sex offender after a 2001 conviction for child molestation and criminal attempt to commit rape. Harlem High officials were aware of his conviction, but the school system administration was not.

The arrest prompted Columbia County school officials to hold a press conference Thursday where they said they would develop policies to handle enrolling convicted students.

A Grovetown woman reported a peeping tom at her bedroom window early Tuesday morning.

Myrna Patricia Cox, of the 4400 block of Wrightsboro Road, told police that she found a man crouched near her bedroom window just before 6 a.m., according to a Columbia County Sheriff's Office report.

When Cox walked onto her front porch, the man ran to the corner of the street, jumped into a car resembling a white Ford Crown Victoria and sped away with the headlights off, the report stated.

Cox told police that she would prosecute if the man is identified.

A Lakeside High School student told police he discovered a message keyed into his car Monday.

The 17 year old told police that someone scratched the words "WE REDI" into the rear passenger door of his Honda Accord during school hours Monday while the car was parked in the school lot at 533 Blue Ridge Drive in Evans, according to a Columbia County Sheriff's Office report.

Bell reported the incident to police Tuesday afternoon because he did not notice the damage until he arrived at work after school Monday and was unsure of reporting procedures, the report stated. Bell also said he would prosecute if the party responsible is identified.

Police discovered two dogs inside an abandoned vehicle in Martinez on Tuesday.

Columbia County sheriff's deputy A.J. Lyons responded to complaint of an abandoned vehicle at about 8 a.m. on the 300 block of Mears Street, where he discovered a maroon Dodge van with two dogs inside, according to a Columbia County Sheriff's Office report. Lyons ran the tag number but was unable to contact the van's owner.

A witness told Lyons that the vehicle was left at the location Monday afternoon with only three windows cracked and no food or water for the dogs, the report stated.

Columbia County Animal Care and Control responded and took the dogs to its Appling facility. The vehicle was tagged, the report stated.

An Evans woman told police Monday that someone has been killing off the squirrels in her backyard for months.

Betty Hagberg Odom, of the 500 block of Pheasant Run Drive, said that since the first of March, someone has been shooting and killing squirrels in her backyard, according to a Columbia County Sheriff's Office report.

Hagberg discovered a squirrel killed by possibly a pellet gun and another mortally wounded by a similar weapon, the report stated. Hagberg added that she saw a blood trail on her fence from the wounded squirrel.

If the person responsible is identified, Hagberg said she would prosecute, the report stated.

A school bus rolled from the Lakeside High School parking lot into the woods after someone released the parking brake Monday afternoon.

Randall Scott Hill, the athletic director for the school located at 533 Blue Ridge Drive in Evans, told police that school bus No. 2410, parked in the lot beside the baseball field, rolled backwards through a chain link fence and into a wooded area, according to a Columbia County Sheriff's Office report.

Hill said the bus was in neutral with the parking brake set and someone entered the bus between 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. and disengaged the brake, the report stated. A bus mechanic inspected the bus at the scene and determined the braking system was operating properly.

The incident caused $2,500 damaged to the back end of the bus and an unknown value of damage to 60-feet of chain link fence, the report stated.

A shoplifter walked out of Martinez grocery store with more than $100 worth of beer Monday afternoon.

Doyce Franklin Newman, the manager of the Bi-Lo grocery store at 4480 Columbia Road, said that a man left the store with six, 24-pack containers of Bud Light and two NASCAR T-shirts, according to a Columbia County Sheriff's Office report.

Newman said the man got into the passenger side of a 1989 blue Toyota Camry, that drove off, the report stated. A video from the store's surveillance system showed the man stealing the merchandise and was taken as evidence.

Newman said the store would prosecute if the shoplifter is identified.