Police Blotter
Martinez man sentenced to 25 years in prison
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A Martinez man accused of fatally striking a bicyclist with a car in August was sentenced to 25 years in prison Wednesday.
As part of a plea agreement with the district attorney's office, Richard Kyle Post, 26, of the 4200 block of Green Ivy Circle, pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide in the first degree, kidnapping, failing to stop or return to the scene of an accident, driving on the wrong side of the road, reckless driving, driving under the influence of alcohol and making false statements.
On Aug. 29, police say, Post drove into Harendra K. Sinha, 63, of the 100 block of Springlakes Drive, who was riding a bicycle in Springlakes subdivision. Police said Post drove a mile with the cyclist lodged in his windshield before he pulled Sinha from the windshield to the ground and abandoned him and the car behind an elementary school. He then called police from a gasoline station to report that he had been carjacked.
Sinha died of his injuries Sept. 23.
In addition to the prison sentence, Post must pay a $300 fine. Prosecutors said Post's blood alcohol content at the time of the incident was 0.124. The legal limit is 0.08. With the 25-year sentence, Post can be considered for parole in his 15th year of confinement and has given up his right to appeals.
Theft charges follow fatal car collision
Two Augusta women were charged with shoplifting Wednesday in connection with an incident officials said led to a deadly Martinez wreck Sunday, Columbia County sheriff's Maj. Rick Whitaker said.
Tiara Smith, 20, of Greening Lane, and Nebula McNeely, 42, of Zader Lane, were charged with felony theft by shoplifting after being accused of taking $390.81 worth of merchandise at about 4 p.m. Sunday from Marshalls department store in Evans.
McNeely, also known as Denise Yvonne McNeely, was arrested Wednesday after being released from Medical College of Georgia Hospital and was held without bond at the Columbia County Detention Center.
Smith, who also faces 10 traffic charges in connection with the collision, was charged with two counts of first-degree vehicular homicide, feticide and felony theft by shoplifting. She was being held Wednesday on a $46,400 bond, according to jail personnel.
The wreck on Washington Road on Sunday killed Margaret Patricia Branton, 63, of Padrick Street, and her son, Lonnie D. Turner, 37. Mary Turner, 26, who was about 19 weeks pregnant, lost her unborn child and had been upgraded to serious condition at MCG on Friday.
The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office:
Martinez man reports attempted fraud
A Martinez computer technician told deputies someone tried to buy thousands of dollars in computer equipment from him Monday by fraudulent means.
The technician, who works from his home on Sioux Court, told deputies he received an e-mail in May from a man seeking equipment valued at $5,990.
On Monday, the man, with a company at a listed address in Smyrna, Ga., sent authorization to charge the equipment to two credit cards. The Martinez man also received instructions to ship the equipment to a Loganville, Ga., company.
The computer technician told deputies when he requested a copy of a driver's license to process the transaction, the customer sent a copy of a Pennsylvania license with a Smyrna, Ga., address. The Martinez man then contacted police.
Grovetown teen's hand is cut during fight
A Grovetown teen told deputies he was cut on the hand by another teen who pulled a switchblade during a fight Monday night.
Deputies responded to the emergency room of Doctors Hospital and were told by the 17-year-old from the 5100 block of Parnell Way that he was cut after an argument with another 17-year-old who was angry about a physically aggressive basketball game on the grounds of Brookwood Elementary School.
When deputies told the teen they did not believe his story, he told them he had confronted the other 17-year-old about his involvement in the theft of some stereo equipment.
An argument ensued, and the other 17-year-old cut the Grovetown teen with a switchblade, requiring seven stitches to mend.
Retiree reports being robbed by two men
A Grovetown retiree told deputies Monday night that two men robbed him Sunday afternoon after promising to do work at his house.
The 68-year-old man told deputies two men, described only as a younger and older man, drove up to his home in the 100 block of Lewiston Road and told him they were there to replace a cable on the side of the house.
The retiree went around a corner of his home with the older man, who then grabbed the retiree's wallet and fled with the other man to their vehicle and left.
When the retiree went to call police, his phone was dead, and deputies discovered when they were called to the home that the phone line had been cut.