Police Blotter

The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office:

Robbery by force

A truck driver passing through the area said he was robbed after he stopped for coffee at an Interstate 20 rest area.

Michael J. Tew, 32, a driver for D and E Trucking, said he stopped at rest area No. 63 on the westbound side of I-20 near Harlem just after midnight Aug. 3 when a man attacked and robbed him. Tew said he saw a shadow behind him as he got coffee, and when he turned around a man grabbed his neck and choked him. Tew said that as he tried to reach above his head, the man lifted him off the ground.

Tew, of Mendenhall, Miss., told police that he lost consciousness after his assailant forced him into a restroom. When he awoke, the man was still there and kept asking, "Where is it?" Tew told police that when he asked the man what he was looking for, the man replied, "The paper." The man ran out of the bathroom. While gathering his belongings, Tew discovered the man had taken $100 from his wallet.

Two men approached Tew and asked what happened. When he responded he'd been robbed, the men said they had seen a man matching the description of the assailant run to a white Toyota and leave. Tew called 911 from a pay phone at the rest area. A cut and swelling on his forehead were treated at the scene and he refused to be taken to a hospital, the report stated.

Counterfeit bills found

The assistant manager of a Martinez fast-food restaurant told police Aug. 3 that someone used counterfeit bills to pay for food that evening.

A manager of the Wendy's at 430 S. Belair Road told police that as he checked one of his employees' cash register drawers, he discovered that a customer had made a purchase between 3:30 and 5:15 p.m. and used three counterfeit $10 bills to pay.

The manager said he noticed that the bills did not look or feel right and had no security devices. The bills were taken as evidence.

Deputy shoved

A Columbia County sheriff's deputy was shoved Aug. 3 when she asked the name of a man who was reportedly acting suspiciously at an Evans doctors office.

Deputy Mary Boseman and Staff Sgt. Thomas Harper talked to the employees of New Frontiers on Healthcare, at 629 Ronald Reagan Drive, who said that a 50-year-old Grovetown man was pacing the floor and talking to himself in the waiting room.

Boseman and Harper entered the waiting room and Boseman asked the man his name,. Boseman pushed the deputy against the wall. Harper grabbed the man to restrain him and placed him on the floor, where Boseman handcuffed him.

The man was treated by emergency medical personnel and was taken to Medical College of Georgia Hospital for a mental evaluation. Though a warrant for simple battery was issued, he had not been arrested as of Monday because he was transferred to the Georgia Regional Hospital.

Martinez Fire Department Activity Report for the week of July 31-Aug. 6:

Structure fires, two; vehicle fire, one; controlled burn, one; fire alarms, eight; natural gas leak, one; hazardous materials, one; carbon monoxide, one; medical calls, 15; rescue calls, seven; investigations, seven; public service, four; public safety assistance, one; and other, four.