Police Blotter
The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office.
Scam artist strikes three restaurants
A man used the same scam to steal money from three restaurants Friday.
The man entered Firehouse Subs at 101 Maple Drive in Martinez at about 8:30 p.m., ordered food, paid with a $100 bill and was given his change, according to a sheriff's office incident report. Store Manager Jason Edward Lopez told police the man came back to the counter claiming he was given three $1 bills instead of the three $20 bills he was owed as change.
The cashier exchanged the $1 bills for $20 bills before the man took his food and left, a report said. Lopez said the cashier realized the scam after the man left with $60 of the store's money.
A man fitting the same description used the scam at two other locations within a half-hour, including the Firehouse Subs location at 3836 Washington Road in Evans and Mot's Pit-Cooked Barbecue at 3963 Columbia Road in Martinez, incident reports said.
In each of the three incidents, the man made off with $60.
Woodbridge residents report lawn damage
Two Woodbridge subdivision homeowners reported damage to their lawns Sunday.
Richard Clarence McNutt, 68, of Woodbridge Way in Evans, told police someone drove across his lawn Saturday or Sunday, causing $200 damage to a 6-by-20-foot section of his centipede grass sod, according to a sheriff's office incident report.
Erik Raymond Baker, 34, of 4807 Woodbridge Place, in Evans, reported tire tracks across his lawn at about 12:20 p.m. Sunday, the report stated.
Identity theft interferes with electricity
A Martinez man told police Friday that he could not get electric service because someone had been using his Social Security number.
Gilberto J. Velez Vega, 21, of the 700 block of Thoroughbred Lane, told police that he tried to have power connected to his new residence, but Jefferson Energy Cooperative refused to provide it, according to a sheriff's office incident report. A company representative notified Vega that he was not approved for service because of his credit history.
When Vega inquired, the representative told him a man at an unknown location in Florida has been using his Social Security number.
Woman says someone tried to enter her home
A Martinez woman told police that she was at home Thursday when someone tried to break in.
Tambrea Lynn Peterson, 46, of the 400 block of Shortleaf Trail, told police that she heard a loud noise in her garage between 11 a.m. and noon Thursday, according to a sheriff's office incident report.
Police discovered the top of the door pushed open in the middle.
Two pry marks were found on the door frame, and the door's inner metal bar was bent, the report said.
Martinez Fire Depart-ment activity report for the week of Jan. 30-Feb. 5:
Structure fire, one; vehicle fire, one; controlled burn, one; fire alarms, four; bomb threat, one; medical calls, 32; rescue calls, 14; investigations, nine; and public service, two.