Police blotter
Missing 1-year-old boy's father sought
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The FBI's Augusta office is looking for a former Columbia County golf pro accused of abducting his 1-year-old son two weeks ago and leaving for Mexico City.
William Brown, 38, of Evans, who is a former assistant golf pro at Jones Creek and had worked as the director of instruction at River Golf Club in North Augusta, has a warrant out for his arrest on Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution, said Ed Reinhold, of the Augusta FBI office.
Authorities say Brown picked up his son, Ezekiel Brown, from Greenbrier Day Care off William Few Parkway in Evans on Jan. 31, and the two have not been seen since. Reinhold said authorities don't believe Mr. Brown is a danger to his child.
The FBI believes Brown could still be in Mexico City based on ATM transactions, but they don't rule out a return to the area. Lois Brown, the child's mother, said she and her husband are separated and that he had picked up her son soon after a judge ruled that his visits be supervised.
William Brown is described as having light brown hair with hazel eyes and being 6 feet, 1 inch tall and weighing 212 pounds. Ezekiel has blonde hair and blue eyes.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of William Brown or Ezekiel Brown can call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at (800) 843-5678, the Columbia County Sheriff's Office at (706) 541-2800 or the FBI's Augusta office at (706) 722-3702.
The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office:
Augusta men face shoplifting charges
Two Augusta men were arrested Monday and charged with shoplifting from an Evans store.
Giancarlo Mascaro, 26, of Westberry Drive, and Curtis Dean Smith, 30, of the 3300 block of Oakridge Drive, were arrested at Kohl's on Washington Road.
Mascaro was being held Wednesday on $1,100 bond and a Richmond County warrant at the Columbia County Detention Center. Smith was released from jail early Tuesday on $1,100 bond.
A manager at the store told deputies she saw Mascaro exit a fitting room wearing clothes that he had brought in to try on. The manager said Mascaro then left the store without paying, according to a sheriff's incident report. The manager also said Smith tried to leave the store wearing shoes he had taken off a shelf, according to the incident report.
Woman reports identity theft
An Evans woman told deputies late Monday someone stole her identity and used the information to make purchases online.
The 41-year-old from the 300 block of Yuma Trail told deputies she discovered a negative balance in one of her accounts after making a deposit Feb. 10. When the woman contacted her bank she was told several charges had been made on at least three Web sites.
One purchase of $800 was made at a currency trading site and three purchases totaling about $3,000 were made at two Internet-based employment sites, according to the incident report.
Chaplain reports online scam
A U.S. Army chaplain told deputies Monday he was the victim of a scam when he tried to purchase a puppy over the Internet.
The 52-year-old Fort Gordon resident said he wired $450 on Feb. 9 from Wal-Mart on Washington Road in Evans to a St. Louis, Mo., woman to pay for the dog and shipping costs. The man told deputies the woman did not respond to e-mails to confirm payment was received.
The chaplain told deputies he was able to contact the woman by phone and she reportedly told him she sent the money to Nigeria and could not repay him.
Alarm damaged during Martinez burglary
A Martinez woman told deputies on Monday that someone broke into her home and stole medication, cosmetics and money.
The 56-year-old from Briarwood Drive said someone probably entered a side door sometime between Feb. 6 and Monday morning. She said the alarm control box in her home was damaged.
No signs of forced entry were found.