Police blotter

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

Fatal wreck

A Thomson man died Friday in a single-car crash near Pumpkin Center that left his mother in the hospital.

Lowell Wayne Mitchell, 47, of Quill Street in Thomson, was driving with his mother, Jessie Jackson Mitchell, 68, west in a Ford Ranger on Wrightsboro Road between Pumpkin Center and Grovetown when the vehicle went off the right shoulder at Intermediate Road, Columbia County Sheriff's Maj. Rick Whitaker said. Maj. Whitaker said Mitchell overcorrected, causing the truck to veer across both lanes into a telephone pole and flip into a ditch.

Columbia County Deputy Coroner Vernon Collins pronounced Mitchell dead at the scene. Collins said lack of sleep might have been a factor in the wreck. Mitchell, of Mitchell, Ga., was taken to Medical College of Georgia Hospital, where she was in fair condition Friday evening, hospital spokeswoman Danielle Wong said.

Animal cruelty reported

A Martinez woman said told police Thursday someone has been harming her animals to harass her.

Justice G. Rossi, of the 500 block fo Thomas Drive, said that when she returned home Aug. 22, her two outside kittens were dead. Rossi said she believes the kittens were poisoned, according to a Columbia County Sheriff's Office report.

The front of Rossi's residence was egged three days later, she told police. When Rossi came home Thursday afternoon, she said she also discovered her small dog had been chained to a tree in the backyard. The chain was wrapped around the tree, trapping the dog from moving, the report states.

Rossi told police she believes a man who formerly threatened her is responsible for the acts, the report stated.

Suspicious fire

At least one of two mobile home fires that occurred early Sunday morning in Grovetown is considered to be suspicious, according to Grovetown Department of Public Safety officials.

The Grovetown department responded to a structure fire in a mobile home park on the 5300 block of Cemetery Road just after 1:30 p.m. Sunday morning, a Columbia County Sheriff's Office report states. Fire personnel at the scene told police the fire appeared to be intentionally set.

The owner, Marie Ola Clements, 77, said the mobile home was only used for storage.

Robert Michael Syneberg, 28, who lives in another mobile home owned by Clements on the same property, told police that between 5 and 5:15 a.m. Sunday, someone also set fire to his residence, the report stated.

Both cases were turned over to a sheriff's office investigator.

Dog killed

A Harlem woman told police Sunday someone shot and killed her dog and then burned its remains.

Donna Golden Wagoner, of the 1500 block of Swint Road, said that while she was looking for her dog a juvenile told her some boys had shot and burned her dog, the report stated.

Deputies found two shotgun shells near the dog's remains, according to the report.

Obstruction arrest

A Texas man was arrested Saturday evening after police say he fought them after they found him walking along Interstate 20.

Cecil Edward Alford, 25, of the 1000 block of East Hattie Street in Fort Worth, Texas, was charged with two counts of hindering or obstruction of a law enforcement officer and had his bond set at $2,100, according to jail records.

Columbia County Sheriff's Deputy Robert Kearney said Alford was first seen walking west on I-20 near Harlem. Kearney said he told Alford he couldn't walk on the interstate, so Alford reportedly walked back to the interstate's rest area, a sheriff's office report states.

Kearney later drove back by the same area and said he noticed Alford walking on the side of I-20 again. After telling Alford he could either accept a ride from police or be arrested, Kearney said Alford said, "Go ahead, take me to jail," the report states. At that time, Alford reportedly resisted deputies and had to be physically taken to the ground and handcuffed, according to the report.

Martinez Fire Department Activity Report for the week of August 22-28:

Structure fires, three; vehicle fires, two; fire alarms, five; natural gas leak, one; medical calls, 24; rescue calls, five; investigations, two; other, two.