Police Blotter
The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office:
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Man arrested in shoplifting incident
An Augusta man was in jail Tuesday after he was accused of trying to steal meat from an Evans grocery store and producing another man's identification when he was caught.
Edward Donald Janke, 52, was arrested Sunday night at Publix at 4274 Washington Road and charged with shoplifting, giving a false name or address, and financial identity fraud, according to jail records.
The store's manager told police that just before 9 p.m., he saw Janke put a more than 10-pound standing rib roast, worth $108.69, into a plastic bag and leave the store. The manager stopped Janke in the parking lot and directed him inside, where he called police.
When police arrived, the manager gave them a name and driver's license given to him by Janke, but Janke looked nothing like the man in the license photo. Police said Janke knew all the information on the license.
A police dispatcher contacted the man listed on the license and had him come to the grocery store.
When he arrived, the man told police he didn't know Janke and had no idea how Janke got his driver's license, the report stated.
Janke then gave police his correct information and was arrested. He was being held Monday on $7,300 bond, jail records stated.
2 vacant Evans homes are reported vandalized
Two Evans homes were vandalized last week while their owners were away.
A woman checking on an Evans home at Farmington Drive West, owned by a woman who was out of state, told police June 7 that she found the gate to the backyard open.
The woman said the backyard was flooded because someone had put the water hose into the pool and left the water running, causing the pool to overflow.
In another incident, a Columbia County sheriff's deputy checking on a home on Michaels Creek Drive on June 7 as part of the sheriff's office House Watch Program said she found two rolls of toilet paper in the home's pool and a sticky, white marshmallow substance on the knobs of the front door.
Nothing appeared to be damaged.
Theft by conversion reported at Target
The manager of the Evans Target store reported a store cashier to police Friday after an internal investigation determined she was transferring money from unwitting customers to a gift card for her own use.
On June 1, the deputy manager said a customer bought merchandise and left, but immediately returned asking why he'd been charged $5 for a gift card he didn't purchase. The customer was refunded his $5.
The cashier who scanned the customer's merchandise immediately went to the store management and admitted she scanned a gift card when the customer went through her checkout line.
The deputy manager said he initiated an internal investigation and found four additional credits to the card from May 26-29 from unknown customers - one for $15 and three for $10 each, the report stated.
The cashier had credited a total of $50 to the gift card and spent $27.51.
She turned the card in to managers with a $22.49 balance. The cashier reimbursed the store for $25 and planned to repay the other $25.
As of Tuesday, the cashier had not been formally charged.
Woman reports threatening phone call
A Martinez woman told police Friday that someone on the telephone threatened to kill her.
The woman said she received a call on her cell phone just before 7 p.m. from a restricted phone number. The male caller said, "I know who you are and I know where you live. I'm coming to kill you."
The woman immediately hung up, the report stated.
Martinez-Columbia Fire and Rescue Activity Report for the week of June 4-10:
Structure fire, one; vehicle fire, one; woods fire, one; grass fires, five; unauthorized burns, six; fire alarms, three; natural gas leaks, two; hazardous material, one; medical calls, 21; rescue calls, 15; investigations, 10; public service, two; public safety assistance, two; other, three.