Police blotter
The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia County Sheriff's office.
Stolen card buys cars
An Evans golf car dealer told police that a car picked up Monday was paid for by a stolen credit card - the same card which was used to purchase two cars from a similar business a week before.
William B. Kuhlke III, owner of Transportation Solutions of Augusta, told police that someone who identified himself as David Brooks of Milledgeville, Ga., called in an order to the business at 692 Commerce Court for a $2,782 golf car.
The man paid for the car with a Visa card in Brooks' name. Two men picked up the car just about noon on Monday, the report stated, before Kuhlke discovered the credit card was stolen.
Sparkle Desire Dowdy, 26, of the 1900 block of Central Avenue in Augusta, was arrested July 16 for attempting to purchase two cars on the same credit card from J & M Golf Carts at 690 Industrial Park Drive. Dowdy was taken into custody when she arrived at pick up the second car, according to investigators.
Investigators in that case suspected at the time of her arrest that others were involved.
Household pawned
A Martinez woman on Monday caught her roommate loading up some of her possessions to pawn and discovered he had already pawned nearly $25,000 worth of her items.
Suzanne Henderson Faircloth, of the 100 block of Maple Creek Drive, told police that when she came home from work around 8 p.m. Monday, she found her roommate, Eric D. Schloeman, packing up some of her Hummell statues to take out of the house.
Faircloth then realized that many other items were missing. Schloeman, of the 4400 block of Nottoway Drive in Leesburg, Fla., had stolen and pawned nearly $25,000 of Faircloth's jewelry, Hummells and other items and pawned them since January 2003, the report stated. Faircloth told police that Schloeman had permission to live in the home, but not to take anything.
Faircloth said Schloeman admitted to pawning the items and gave her the pawn tickets before he headed back to Florida, the report stated.
Faircloth was able to use the pawn tickets to buy back all of her missing property, but she still wishes to prosecute Schloeman for the thefts, the report stated.
Signs dumped
A candidate in the recent election for Columbia County's Chief Magistrate position recently told police that someone had put his signs in a dumpster.
Richard Allen Ingram, of the 500 block of Pineview Curt, told police someone stole 11 campaign signs in the right-of-way on front of Belair Village Shopping Center.
Sheriff's office Investigator Key Kernaghan informed Ingram of the situation. Kernaghan said while on another assignment, he saw a man remove 10 24-by-14-inch signs and a 4-by-4-foot sign and place them in a truck, the report stated. Kernaghan then saw the man take the signs behind the shopping center and put them into a dumpster.
Ingram removed the signs and does wish to prosecute of the man is identified.
Mower fires club
A golf club thrown by a lawn mower damaged the front door of a Martinez home.
Terence Michael Cleary, of the 300 block of Old Salem Way, told police his wife heard a loud noise at the home's front door and saw a lawn-care service truck across the street. Cleary said that his wife saw a man looking underneath a riding lawn mower.
After the landscaper left, Cleary said his wife walked outside and found pieces of a golf club shaft in her yard and the golf club head in front of the door, which had been struck, the report stated.
Cleary signed a waiver of prosecution.