Police blotter
The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office:
Woman receives gambling scam letter
An Evans woman recently reported receiving a fraudulent letter and winnings check from a company claiming she had won a sizeable sum from a gambling Web site.
The Quinn Drive woman told police she received a package from a securities company Monday. The package, she said, contained a check for $3,950 and a letter informing her she was the winner of a $250,780 prize, according to a police incident report.
The woman told police she called a number for the First Republic Bank listed on the letter and a representative instructed her to cash the check and send a money order for $2,900 to the securities company to cover processing fees, according to the report.
The woman told police she then searched for the bank online, found a separate number and called the bank and was informed that the check was fraudulent and that the bank had fielded calls about the scam for several weeks, according to the report.
Video games and console stolen from Martinez home
A Martinez man reported to police Tuesday the theft of a video game console and games from his home.
An XBox 360 video game console, valued at $400, three games, valued at $180, and a wireless controller and charger, valued at $70, were reported stolen from the home in the 300 block of Blue Ridge Crossing, according to a police report.
Martinez home vandalized
A Grovetown man returned Tuesday to a Martinez home that he owns to find it had been vandalized.
The man told police the house appeared to have been entered through a broken window in the back, according to a police report.
Vandals broke three windows, pulled light fixtures out of the ceiling in two bedrooms and pelted the front of the house with blue paint balls, the report stated. A barn adjacent to the house also was vandalized.
The residence, in the 4000 block of McDaniel Road, was entered between Nov. 19 and Tuesday.
Gun reported stolen from barbershop
A pistol and ammunition belonging to an Augusta barber was stolen Tuesday.
The owner of Golden Shears in the 4000 block of Jimmie Dyess Parkway had the gun displayed on the counter of his shop to sell it when three men entered the shop and asked if they could sit inside while waiting for their ride, according to a police report.
The barber said one of the men asked about the gun, a Keltec .32-caliber.
Later, the barber noticed the gun, valued at $250, and a box of 50 cartridges were missing, according to the report.