Police Blotter
The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office:
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Man charged with letting dog attack deputy
A Martinez man was arrested late Sunday after he allowed his pit bull terrier try to attack deputies, police said.
Ricardo Marquis Davis, 23, of the 200 block of Weldon Drive in Martinez, was charged with obstruction of a police officer and disorderly conduct, according to jail records.
A neighbor of Davis called police at about 9:30 p.m., complaining of loud profanity coming from Davis' home and accusing Davis of urinating in the neighbor's presence. Sheriff's Deputy John Hill responded to the call at the neighbor's property and said he could hear Davis behind his home cursing loudly from two yards away.
When Hill approached the rear fence of Davis' yard and asked to speak with him, Davis threatened him with a pit bull, which attempted to climb the fence to attack Hill. Hill used pepper spray on the dog, which ran away. Davis continued cursing and threatening Hill with the dog while standing in the rear doorway of the home with several other people. The dog then charged out of the house again, preventing Hill from approaching Davis and other deputies from entering the yard.
Hill called his supervisors. When they arrived, Davis put the dog away and left through the front door to talk with police. While deputies spoke with several people present, one fainted and fell off the house's porch. The man regained consciousness but refused to be taken to a hospital.
Davis was taken to the Columbia County Detention Center, where he was being held without bond and on a Richmond County probation violation, according to jail personnel.
Evans man reports house window being shot
An Evans man called police Thursday after, he said, a bullet pierced his front window.
The 51-year-old Evans man told deputies that between 5 and 7 p.m., someone fired a small-caliber handgun toward his home. He said the bullet entered the front window of his home, striking the molding of the living room door before landing in the foyer. The bullet was moved to a nearby table before deputies arrived.
The man said there is a pond at the end of his road where people fire weapons, but it is unknown if that is where a weapon was fired from on Thursday.
Woman reports being victim of $5,000 scam
An Augusta woman told police May 10 that someone stole $5,000 in cash from her purse after a lengthy scam that started in the parking lot of a Martinez retail store.
The 87-year-old said she was walking in the lot of Wal-Mart, 260 Bobby Jones Expressway, just before 11 a.m. when a woman approached her and asked whether a wallet belonged to her. It did not, so the woman offered to split the money inside with her, but the 87-year-old declined. The woman then offered to split the money three-ways with her boss and got the woman to drive her to The Home Depot in Richmond County to talk to the "boss."
The victim told police that she is not sure whether the stranger ever entered The Home Depot but that she returned to the car with a paper detailing how the money would be split, including how her boss would pay $3,000 in taxes. The stranger asked for an identification number and then asked her to withdraw $8,000 from her bank.
The victim said she could only get $5,000. They drove to the victim's home and then to her bank while the stranger went to a beauty parlor.
When the victim returned with $5,000, she picked the stranger up but later realized the $5,000 was missing from her purse.
Evans yard vandalized
A teacher at a Martinez Christian school told police Thursday that someone had vandalized her yard.
The Evans woman, a teacher at Augusta Christian Schools, said that between 9 p.m. May 10 and 6 the next morning, someone littered her yard with plastic plates, cups and trash bags.
The woman said she had no idea who might have littered her yard, but said she will prosecute if a suspect is named.
Martinez-Columbia Fire and Rescue Activity Report for the week of May 7-13:
Structure fires, two; unauthorized burns, three; fire alarms, seven; natural gas leaks, two; medical calls, 25; rescue calls, 13; investigations, three; public service, three; public safety assistance, one; and other, four.