Police Blotter
Police searching for boater who went missing April 20
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Authorities are searching for a Columbia County man who has not been seen since a boating trip April 20.
Michael Wade Bowman, 46, of Old Blythe Road in Harlem, was last seen at a boat ramp in McDuffie County, Columbia County sheriff's Capt. Steve Morris said.
Bowman's vehicle was found at the ramp, and his boat along Thurmond Lake in Wilkes County.
Call Wilkes County Sheriff's Office, (706) 678-2224.
The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office:
Manager attacked during shoplifting at Evans store
A manager of an Evans beauty products supplier told deputies Tuesday that she was assaulted by a shoplifter wearing a straw hat.
The 48-year-old manager of Sally Beauty Supply said a man ran into the store at 4449 Washington Road at about 9 a.m. When she offered assistance, he told her he was browsing. He pushed her to the floor when she offered assistance a second time.
She said the assailant left with three hair-straightening irons in a light-blue station wagon with a white boat strapped to its roof. He waved at the manager as he drove away.
The assailant was described as black, 5 feet 6 inches and about 200 pounds, with curly dark hair.
He was wearing black pants, a white undershirt and a yellow outer shirt.
A woman in the car wore a scarf, the manager said. The car had either a Tennessee or Texas license plate.
Augusta man arrested while driving stolen vehicle
Deputies arrested an Augusta man early Tuesday who they say was driving a stolen truck with a stolen license plate.
Edward Donald Janke, 53, of Edgar Street, faces felony and misdemeanor theft by receiving stolen property charges and was being held Friday at the Columbia County Detention Center on $6,200 bond. Janke was denied bond on an outstanding charge of failure to appear.
Janke was stopped around midnight in the parking lot of Circle K in the 4400 block of Columbia Road. Authorities say he was driving a maroon-and-tan Ford F-150 that matched the description of a truck reported stolen in Richmond County.
A check of the truck and its tag determined that both had been stolen.
Man runs away with circus and carpenter's tools
A Martinez carpenter reported the theft of $2,000 in tools Monday after being told that the former employee in possession of the tools had left town to join the circus.
The 53-year-old from Rose Street told deputies the employee did not show up for work Monday. The employee, a Graniteville man, had the tools April 20.
The carpenter said the family of the employee told him the worker had returned to his old job with a circus company as a motorcycle rider in a cage. The carpenter said the family denied knowing the location of the tools.