Police blotter
Police arrest suspect in motel shooting
An Augusta man was arrested Tuesday hours after a shooting at a Martinez motel.
Keith House, 25, of the 1400 block of Ridgewood Drive in Augusta, turned himself in to Richmond County authorities Tuesday night, Columbia County sheriff's Capt. Steve Morris said. House was charged with aggravated assault with a gun and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. He is being held at the Columbia County Detention Center without bond.
The shooting happened at about 3 p.m. in a room on the third floor of the Motel 6 on Park West Drive near Jimmie Dyess Parkway and Interstate 20, Morris said.
Tony Howard, 33, was shot at least once in the lower back and was conscious when police and medical personnel arrived, Morris said. Howard was transported by ambulance to Medical College of Georgia Hospital, Morris said.
A spokeswoman with MCG would not release Howard's condition.
Witnesses to the incident said House and Michelle Bland, 28, of Augusta, came to the room occupied by Howard and two other individuals while they were asleep, according to a police incident report.
Witnesses told police House and Howard started to argue because Howard would not help House bail a friend out of jail, according to the report.
The argument turned violent, and witnesses told police House shot Howard in the back, according to the report. House then fled the room, handing over a black .22-caliber pistol to one of the witnesses who later led police to the weapon, according to the report.
Man is indicted on vehicular homicide
A Grovetown man arrested in October after a wreck during which a toddler was killed was indicted Wednesday on a vehicular homicide charge.
A Columbia County grand jury indicted Morris Edward Perkins, 58, of the 4600 block of Eisenview Drive in Grovetown, on charges of homicide by vehicle in the first degree and driving under the influence, according to the indictment.
Police said Perkins struck the back of a Pontiac Grand Am, which ran out of gas in the westbound lane of Interstate 20 near Wheeler Road on Oct. 11.
Taylor Brooklyn Hegree, 18 months, of Dodge Lane in Grovetown, was killed after being ejected from the car that belonged to her mother, Casey Hegree, 19.
Police said Hegree and her sister were preparing to push the car to the shoulder when it was hit by Perkins' Dodge pickup.
The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office:
Police suspect arson in abandoned house fire
Police suspect arson to be the cause of a Wednesday night fire that severely damaged an abandoned house on Old Appling-Harlem Highway in Harlem, according to a police incident report.
Martinez-Columbia Fire Rescue responded at about 5:50 p.m. to reports of heavy smoke and quickly extinguished the fire at the house near Madelyn Drive, fire department spokeswoman Honey Shore said.
She said an exact cause of the blaze has not been determined.
Cardboard was piled up on the floor of the room where the fire started, suggesting arson, according to the report. A Harlem man who reported the fire told police he saw a young white male with brown hair, wearing a baseball cap, riding a bike near the location, according to the report.
Hephzibah woman charged with forgery and false identification
Police arrested a Hephzibah woman Monday on charges of first-degree forgery and possession of false identification documents after managers at the Evans Wal-Mart said she tried to pass a fraudulent check and a fake ID for merchandise.
Nicole Renee Carey-Williams, 25, of the 2500 block of Sand Ridge Court, is being held at the Columbia County Detention Center without bond.
Police stopped Williams outside the Wal-Mart as she was being pursued by managers, according to the police incident report. Police demanded identification from Williams and were given a Louisiana driver's license described in the report as fake.
She was then placed into custody.
Wal-Mart managers told police that Williams used the fake ID and a fraudulent check to pay for $439.65 in merchandise. A search of her purse revealed other fake IDs and checks, according to the report.
Williams' purse also contained a receipt from a North Augusta Wal-Mart for more than $1,000 in merchandise paid for by check.
A check with that store and North Augusta Department of Public Safety officers revealed the check and ID given were similar to that used at the Evans store, according to the police report.
No charges had been filed in North Augusta.
Evans man is robbed at gunpoint
A 19-year-old Evans man told police Tuesday night that he was robbed at gunpoint as he walked in his neighborhood.
The man told police he was walking near the 600 block of Kimberly Place when he was approached by a man who asked to borrow a lighter.
When the Evans man reached down to get his lighter, the other man pointed a gun to the 19-year-old's forehead and demanded cash, the incident report states.
The 19-year-old surrendered his wallet, which contained his driver's license and $5, and the robber reportedly fled.
The assailant was described as a black male, 5 feet, 11 inches tall, with a medium build, wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt.