Police Blotter
No charges to be filed in March bus accident
//
No charges will be filed in a fatal school bus accident in March, the district attorney's office announced Thursday.
On March 20, Kole Ford, 2, of Grovetown, was struck and killed by a Columbia County school bus on a private dirt driveway off Wilkins Road. The bus, No. 215, serves Brookwood Elementary School and was driven by Candy Hammett, 37, of Grovetown, authorities said.
The investigation included an analysis of the accident, the scene, the bus driver's responsibility and driving record and the school board's records and protocol. Investigators also analyzed the past and current parental supervision of the child, District Attorney Danny Craig wrote in a letter Wednesday to Columbia County Sheriff Clay Whittle.
Armed robbery suspect faces more charges
A Grovetown armed robbery suspect, who police say was thwarted by an armed 71-year-old store clerk, had additional charges levied against him Monday.
Anthony Terrell Graddy, 30, of Grovetown, was initially charged Monday with armed robbery and numerous traffic offenses after police say he tried to rob Jernigan's Grocery on Harlem-Grovetown Road.
Graddy now faces additional charges of aggravated assault, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, according to jail records.
At 9:45 a.m. Monday, a man with a rifle entered the store and demanded money, Columbia County sheriff's Capt. Steve Morris said. But he left empty-handed after the clerk pulled his own gun.
The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office:
Woman says someone tried to hit her with car
A 43-year-old Martinez woman told deputies she was picking up her child about 10 p.m. Tuesday near the intersection of Willowood and Maywood drives, when a woman in a white Chevrolet Cavalier tried to run her over with the vehicle.
The Cavalier had a Georgia tag, but no further description of the vehicle or driver was mentioned in the report.
Shoplifters take bike, electronics
Shoplifters made off with hundreds of dollars in merchandise in two separate incidents Monday at a Martinez K-Mart, a sheriff's report states.
A clerk at the K-Mart on Washington Road told deputies that at about 5 p.m., a man exited the store on a stolen bicycle. The man was described as wearing dark pants, a white shirt and a white baseball cap.
In the second incident , a manager said a man took two camcorders and a prepaid cell phone into a bathroom and concealed them. The manager said the man left in a Toyota Camry with a handicap license plate. The suspect is described as 6 feet tall, 175 pounds, with bleached hair, according to a report.