Police blotter
The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia County Sheriff's office.
Water theft
A neighbor saw two men Friday remove a water meter to connect water to a Martinez home.
Mark Inglett, operations manager for Columbia County Water Works, got a call Friday from a woman who said she saw two men at the corner of Mack Road and Settlement Road cut off the metal water meter and replace it with a white pipe, according to the Columbia County Sheriff's Office incident report.
Inglett checked the meter and discovered the meter leading to a residence on the 3900 block of Mack Road had been removed and replaced with a PVC pipe, which allowed water to flow to the residence, the report stated. The account had a history of delinquency and the water was shut off July 13 because the account was past due.
According to Myra Jane Bates, 37, who lives at the residence, the home is a rental that she and her husband, Dan, have recently moved into. But the water account is not in either of their names, the report stated.
Bates told police that the water was shut off, but when she came home Friday, the water was back on, the report stated. When she questioned her husband about it, he told Bates that a man named Ray-Ray turned it back on. At the time of the report, Bates did not know where to find her husband, the report stated.
Inglett said the water department will prosecute if the men tampering with the meter are located.
Bates was taken to the Columbia County Detention Center on an outstanding Richmond County warrant for failing to appear in court on an unrelated charge.
Beer thief repeats
Someone walked into the Circle K at Old Evans and Old Petersburg roads Friday and took beer without paying - twice.
Joyce Ann Cooper, a clerk at the store, told police that just before 2 a.m., a man walked into the store and left with a $13.99 case of Budweiser beer, according to the Columbia County Sheriff's Office incident report.
Cooper said the man headed east on Old Petersburg Road in a black sports car driven by another man. The store's surveillance video system may have recorded the theft, the report stated.
At about 10:30 p.m., counter clerk Joshua Cannan Pulley told police that a man ran out of the store carrying a $17.99 case of Bud Light beer, the report stated.
A witness in the parking lot saw the man run out and get into a 1990s model red and silver Camaro and head east on Old Petersburg Road, the report stated. Police were unable to locate the vehicle.
Purse stolen
A Martinez woman's purse was stolen while she browsed yard sales Saturday morning.
Angela Michelle Mathis, 32, of the 200 block of Oak Lake Drive, told police that she was visiting assorted yard sales in the Martinez area between 8:45 and 10:45 a.m. Saturday, according to the Columbia County Sheriff's Office incident report.
Mathis said that at one location along the shopping trek, someone reached through the open window of her Isuzu Amigo and stole her purse, containing medication and assorted paperwork, and a CD case with more than 60 CDs inside, off the front passenger seat, the report stated.
Gas stolen
A Martinez man reported someone siphoned the gas out of his car Saturday.
Luther Funderburg, 56, of the 4000 block of Wheeler Road, told police Sunday morning that he discovered someone forced open the gas cap door, bending the hinge, on his Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight and stole 11 gallons of gasoline.
Funderburg found no other damage to the vehicle and told police that he will prosecute if the thief is identified.
Martinez Fire Department Activity Report for the week of July 11-17:
Structure fires, three; vehicle fire, one; controlled burn, one; fire alarms, four; carbon monoxide, one; medical calls, 24; rescue calls, seven; investigations, two; public service, two; and other, two.