Police blotter
Former schools superintendent indicted
A federal grand jury returned an 18-count indictment Wednesday charging former state Schools Superintendent Linda Schrenko with stealing more than $500,000 in federal education funds.
About half of that money went to Schrenko's failed bid for the Republican nomination for governor in 2002, acting U.S. Attorney Sally Yates said.
Merle Temple of Evans, the state's former deputy superintendent and Schrenko's gubernatorial campaign manager, and Stephan Botes of Alpharetta, the owner of a computer consulting company, also are charged in the indictment, Yates said.
Schrenko, a Columbia County resident, is expected to make an initial appearance before a magistrate judge in Atlanta on Monday.
Thomson man indicted
A Thomson man was indicted on several felony charges by a Columbia County grand jury Wednesday after police say they connected him to an attempted armed robbery of an Evans tanning salon in September.
The grand jury charged Mark Anthony Myers, 28, with three counts each of kidnapping, criminal attempt to commit armed robbery, aggravated assault, possession of a knife during the commission of a crime and misdemeanor simple battery, according to the indictment.
Columbia County authorities say Myers entered Coco's Cabana Centre at Evans tanning salon Sept. 6 and used a knife to force three female employees into a back office, where police say he ordered them to disrobe. Myers is being held without bond in the Columbia County Detention Center, according to jail personnel.
Child pornography indictment
A Harlem man arrested in August on charges of child pornography was indicted on more than 100 felony charges by a Columbia County grand jury Wednesday.
Darryl Stanley Holley, 41, of the 6000 block of George Walton Drive, was indicted on 153 counts of sexual exploitation of children, according to the indictment released late Wednesday.
Columbia County Sheriff's investigators searched Holley's home July 28 after receiving a tip from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
Police say they found about 5,000 sexually explicit photos of minors saved to Holley's computer.
The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office.
ATM burglarized
Columbia County sheriff's deputies found a Martinez bank's automatic teller machine damaged and missing more than $15,000 on Monday.
Authorities said they responded to a commercial alarm at the First Bank of Columbia County, located at 3820 Washington Road, and found the upper control panel and vault door of an ATM open.
The machine's money boxes, containing $15,800 in cash, were reported stolen.
Authorities said a "masked subject" was caught on camera.
The total estimated damaged to the ATM is $300.
Theft arrest
An Augusta man was arrested Tuesday in Columbia County after police said the man was found driving a vehicle that had been reported stolen.
Andrew Lee Taylor, 19, of the 900 block of Hickman Road, was arrested on a charge of theft by receiving after police responded to an accident on Rance Perry Road, a sheriff's office report states.
Authorities said that, during the traffic investigation, it was determined that the Ford Explorer in question, which had extensive damage, was stolen.