Police blotter
The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia County Sheriff's office.
Burglary arrest
A Martinez man was arrested for burglary early Tuesday morning after being questioned about a power tool.
Columbia County Sheriff's Deputy Russell Canterbury was on routine patrol around 2:30 a.m. Tuesday when he saw a man walking along Columbia Road near Merrymont Drive carrying a circular saw, according to the Columbia County Sheriff's Office incident report.
Once Canterbury stopped the man - identified as Brandon Scott Fleeman, 24, of the 300 block of Parkway Court in Martinez - Fleeman became nervous and stated several time that he was just trying to stay out of trouble, the report stated.
During the conversation, Fleeman told the deputy several versions of a story about how he came into possession of the saw and where he'd been in Spring Lakes, before admitting he stole the saw and a tape measure from a home off Braddock Street, the report stated. Fleeman was read his rights, signed a waiver of those rights and continued talking to deputies.
Fleeman said he had entered an open garage at a residence on the 200 block of Almon Drive and stolen the tools. Fleeman then led deputies to the home, where they contacted the owner, Dannette Kay Nix, 45, who identified the tools, the report stated. The stolen items were photographed and returned to Nix.
Fleeman was taken to the Evans substation, where he gave a written statement before being transported to the Columbia County Detention Center on one burglary charge. According to jail personnel, Fleeman was still being held in the detention center Thursday afternoon on a $10,050 bond.
Mailbox vandalism
An Augusta woman discovered a friend's mailbox smashed with a soda can while checking on his Martinez home Monday.
Suzanne Marie Mull, 23, of the 800 block of Sterling Ridge Drive, told police that she arrived around 6:30 p.m. at a residence owned by Wayne Rowell Buckley, 60, on the 4100 block of Knollcrest Circle, to check on the home while Buckley was out of town. She discovered his mailbox had a large dent in it, according to the Columbia County Sheriff's Office incident report.
Police found an unopened aluminum soda can that had been torn in two pieces at the base of the mailbox. It is possible that the full can was thrown at the mailbox and split into pieces on impact, the report stated
Police could not contact Buckley, but Mull said she would notify him of the damage.
Teen threatened
A Martinez teen told police that he was harassed and threatened by a car full of other teens just after midnight Tuesday.
Christopher Ray Weathers, 18, of the 300 block of Stagecoach Way, told police that a vehicle was following him eastbound on Washington Road just before 1 a.m. Tuesday, and followed him into the parking lot of the Pump N Shop store at 190 Baston Road, according to the Columbia County Sheriff's Office incident report.
Four young men got out of the back seat of the car and began to approach Weathers, but got back into the car when Weathers headed for the store. Weathers said that as the Mitsubishi Eclipse drove away, a male voice shouted obscenities and threatened him with bodily harm, the report stated.
After Weathers called police, the vehicle drove by several more times and the same male voice shouted vulgarities and death threats for calling the police, the report stated.
Weather said a young woman drive the car, but he recognized a second female in the passenger seat. He told police that he believes the incident is associated with problems a friend of his was having with the young woman he recognized from the car, the report stated.
Weathers said he will prosecute if the male in the car is identified.