Police blotter
Teen faces charge of vehicular homicide
A 17-year-old from Harlem has been charged with vehicular homicide after an elderly Grovetown woman was killed in a car wreck on Wrightsboro Road earlier this month, police said Tuesday.
Brandon Michael DeLoach, of the 1600 block of Swint Road, pulled out in front of Margaret Ann Donnelly, of Grovetown, at Wrightsboro and Louisville roads at about 8 p.m. Dec. 10, police said. A passenger in Donnelly's car, Grovetown resident Doris Shoup, was fatally injured.
No one else was seriously injured in the wreck, said Maj. Rick Whitaker, of the Columbia County Sheriff's Office.
Police waited until Saturday to arrest DeLoach on charges of second-degree vehicular homicide and failure to yield after stopping at a stop sign, pending the results of Shoup's autopsy, Whitaker said.
It showed Shoup, 68, died of blunt-force trauma suffered in the wreck, according to a police report.
DeLoach was released from the Columbia County Detention Center the day he was arrested on a $2,200 bond.
The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office:
Martinez woman arrested on shoplifting charge
A 50-year-old Martinez woman was arrested Saturday accused of attempting to steal seafood from an Evans grocery store.
Diane Rhodes, of the 300-block of Applecross Drive, was charged with misdemeanor shoplifting and was later released on $1,100 bond from the Columbia County Detention Center.
A store manager of the Publix at 4274 Washington Road told police an employee informed him Rhodes had concealed a package of sea scallops and a package of lobster tails in her purse, according to a police incident report.
The manager told police when he confronted Rhodes and told her she could pay for the items, she attempted to leave the store with the seafood without paying, according to the report.
Man says employee stole checks
The owner of an Evans landscaping company told police Dec. 17 that one of his employees stole checks from the business.
The owner of Curb Appeal Landscaping Services of Windmill Lake Drive told police the employee, who had access to the company checks to perform company business, was using checks to pay personal debts, according to the police incident report.
The man told police several checks were written to companies in Columbia and Richmond counties, however no total amount was listed, according to the report.
Hunter shot at by trespassers
A Harlem hunter told police Dec. 17 he was shot at by two men he said were trespassing on hunting lands he leases.
The incident occurred Saturday morning in woods near the 800 block of Matts Lane, according to a police incident report.
The Harlem man told police he was in his stand when he saw the two men in the woods, one dressed in red and a second dressed in orange, according to the report.
The Harlem man told police when he warned the men they were trespassing, the one in red shouted out vulgarities and moved off, according to the report.
When the Harlem man located the two men and again warned them they were trespassing, the man in red shouted out a second vulgarity and fired a shot, the Harlem man told police. The shot, he said, was in his direction and sounded like a handgun, according to the report.
Evans man arrested on suspended license
An Evans man was arrested after police say he was driving with a suspended license and driving a vehicle with a tag that did not match following a traffic stop Dec. 17 in Martinez.
Robert Lee Tyrpin, 18, of the 600-block of Blanchard Road, was charged with theft by receiving, driving with a suspended license and removing/affixing license plate within intent to conceal or misrepresent identity of a vehicle, according to a police incident report.
Tyrpin was stopped by police on Marsella Avenue for allegedly driving suspiciously, according to the report.
The green Ford Bronco Tyrpin was driving had a license plate that matched a trailer belonging to a Martinez man, according to the report.
Tyrpin told police he recently purchased the Bronco and the truck came with the trailer tag on it, according to the report. Police contacted the seller of the vehicle who told police the vehicle was sold without a tag, according to the report.