Police blotter

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

Bondsman jailed

A former Columbia County bail bondsman spent a few hours in jail for possessing a stolen tractor.

Daniel Lee Savage Sr., 45, of the 6200 block of Keg Creek Drive in Appling, was arrested Friday and charged with theft by receiving stolen property. Authorities discovered Tuesday that he possessed a $22,000 tractor that had been reported stolen from the John Deere plant in Grovetown in April 2001, according to Columbia County Sheriff's Capt. Steve Morris.

Police arrested Samuel Royal, 46, and Ernest Turner, 33, both of Chester Avenue in Augusta, after they were caught trying to steal a tractor from John Deere in October of 2000.

An inventory at the plant, resulting from the arrest of Turner and Royal, revealed three tractors were missing, including the one in Savage's possession, Morris said.

Savage was released after less than two hours in the Columbia County Detention Center after he posted a $5,100 bond, according to jail records.

Hotel ransacked

Police are looking for a Fort Gordon soldier accused of ransacking a Grovetown hotel room Saturday night.

Nitin D. Shah, owner of Best Suites hotel, located near the Cracker Barrel restaurant on Park West Drive, told police a Fort Gordon soldier rented room 206 Saturday and damaged the room's flooring, carpet and ceiling, according to a Columbia County Sheriff's Office incident report.

After the soldier checked out Sunday, Shah said, he found water damage in the room and in the hotel's first-floor restaurant, Margaritaz, which is directly below room 206, the report stated.

Drains in the room's tub and two sinks had been closed, with water overflowing onto the floor, the report stated. The water soaked through the floor and dripped into the restaurant's bar area.

Furniture in the room also had been overturned, and bed linens were hung from the walls, according to the report. Police hadn't found the soldier by the time of the report, but they confirmed that the soldier is active duty military at Fort Gordon.

ATM Card Stolen

An Evans woman had her ATM card stolen after she left it in an ATM machine July 16.

Beatrice Garnavault, 40, of the 4300 block of Azalea Drive, told police she used her card at the Bank of America's ATM machine on Ronald Reagan Drive in Evans. She said she drove off and forgot her card in the machine, according to the Columbia County Sheriff's Office incident report. When she realized where she left the card and returned for it, the card was no longer there, the report stated.

Garnavault received her bank statement on July 27 and discovered $2,300 in unauthorized charges on her account.

Water toy stolen

A Martinez man told police someone stole a water toy from his boat Saturday at a Wildwood Park campsite.

Daniel Wayne Shearer, 35, of the 3900 block of Cheyenne Trail, said that when he left his campsite at Wildwood Park to take his family to dinner, someone stole a "Monster Tube," a boating toy measuring 6-feet in diameter, from his boat, according to a Columbia County Sheriff's Office incident report.

An investigator was not called because of a lack of evidence at the campsite, located on the 6200 block of Dogwood Way.

Martinez Fire Department Activity Report for the week of July 25-31:

Structure fires, eight; woods fire, one; grass fire, one; vehicle fires, three; controlled burn, one; fire alarms, five; medical calls 23; rescue calls, nine; investigations, five; and public service, one.