Police Blotter
The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office:
Columbia County bus shop foreman Jay Dunham, Deputy David Herrity, Lt. John Cook, and school system director of transportation Dewayne Porter discuss the damage to a Jeep that struck a bus on Knob Hill Farm Road. No students were injured in the crash Thursday. The driver of the Jeep, Chadwich Perhonish, 16, was charged with driving too fast for conditions.
Photo by J. Scott Trubey
Man charged with theft of services
An Augusta man was arrested Sept. 14 after he and a companion ran out on a meal tab at a Grovetown restaurant for a second day in a row, police said.
Eddie Lee McNair Jr., 25, of the 1700 block of Verdery Street, was charged with two counts of misdemeanor theft of services after he ran from the Cracker Barrel at 460 Parkwest Drive off Belair Road after not paying his bill, according to a sheriff's office incident report. The restaurant's assistant manager recognized McNair and a female companion at about 1:30 p.m. Sept. 14 as the same couple who reportedly left the restaurant one day before without paying $16.66 for their meal.
When McNair left the restaurant, the assistant manager went outside and told police the couple did not pay $24.81 for their food. McNair, who ran to a nearby Pilot gas station, tried to hide behind a truck and the building, but was apprehended and arrested, the report stated. The woman disappeared during the chase.
McNair also was charged with obstruction or hindering a law enforcement official and was released Thursday morning after posting a $3,800 bond, jail records stated.
Grovetown man reports theft from home
A Grovetown man told police Sunday that someone stole cash and gasoline from his home.
The 80-year-old man said he invited a man and a woman into his home at about 3 p.m. Sunday because he thought he recognized the man. The couple tried to sell the resident a decorative rug, and he realized during the conversation that he did not know the man, according to a sheriff's office incident report.
The man told police he left the couple unattended for a short time.
After they left in a blue car, the man discovered $100 was missing from his wallet and $10 worth of gasoline and a red gas can was missing from his backyard, the report stated.
House and car vandalized
A Martinez woman told police Sunday that someone vandalized her home and car while her son was sleeping upstairs.
The woman said that when she arrived home from work at about 3 a.m. she discovered an antique plaster statue broken on her doorstep and the rear glass door of her house and an adjoining window shattered, according to a sheriff's office incident report. She also discovered a metal chair taken from the back porch had been thrown through the rear window of her Honda CRX, the report stated.
The woman's 18-year-old son was asleep upstairs between 10:45 p.m. and 3 a.m. and said he did not hear any glass breaking.
Woman reports financial identity fraud
A Martinez woman told police Sept. 14 that someone had been using her new husband's checking account to pay for a gym membership for 10 months.
The woman said she is recently married and was going through her husband's bank statements when she noticed a $39 a month charge for a membership to L.A. Fitness, a gym in Atlanta, according to a sheriff's office incident report.
The charges began in November and have continued through August, the report stated. The woman and her husband said neither of them have memberships to the gym and never gave anyone permission to do so, the report stated.
Martinez Fire Department Activity Report for the week of Sept. 11-17:
Woods fire, one; grass fire, one; vehicle fires, three; fire alarms, 10; carbon monoxide alarm, one; natural gas leak, one; medical calls, four; rescue calls, 15; investigations, nine; and public service, one.