Police Blotter
Five, including three students, arrested in drug case in Martinez
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Three Greenbrier High School students, two of them football players, have been arrested off campus on drug charges.
Trip Mischel, 17, of Shadow Oak Drive in Evans, a placekicker, was charged with possession of cocaine and released on a $2,600 bond, said Columbia County sheriff's Capt. Steve Morris. Tyrone Bonds, 18, of Hamilton Court in Evans, a wide receiver, was charged with possession of Ecstasy and marijuana. He was released on a $3,700 bond, Morris said.
Andrew Lasure, 17, of Evans, was charged with possession of marijuana and cocaine and was released on a $3,700 bond. Morris said the incident occurred May 12 in a Wendy's parking lot on Belair Road near Interstate 20. He said narcotics officers did surveillance on two vehicles when the arrests were made.
Morris said two others also were arrested. Ezra Bias, 24, of Augusta, was charged with sale of cocaine, with no bond set, and Yutavis Cavitt, 24, of Martinez, was charged with carrying a concealed weapon. A jail spokesman said Cavitt remains in custody because of a probation hold.
The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office:
Martinez, Harlem couples charged with meter tampering
A traffic stop Monday night led to the arrest of four Columbia County residents accused of tampering with public utility property.
Arrested are: Roxanne Marie Baxter, 29, and David Christopher Baxter, 33, both of the 200 block of Rose Street in Martinez; and Rhonda Rene Courtney, 33, and William Colton Courtney, 17, both of the 200 block of South Hicks Street in Harlem.
Roxanne Baxter and the Courneys were released from the Columbia County Detention Center Tuesday on $1,600 bond. David Baxter also was cited for an open-container violation and was released Tuesday on $2,700 bond.
Deputies stopped the vehicle the four were riding in at Roberts and Old Evans roads at about 9 p.m. During a search of the vehicle, deputies discovered a Georgia Power electrical meter.
The suspects said they found the meter in a ditch nearby, but Rhonda Courtney later wrote in a statement that the meter was from a home in the 200 block of Rose Street.
Man holds up Martinez gas station, runs away
A gas station on Flowing Wells Road in Martinez was robbed early Tuesday, authorities say.
The incident at Sprint Foods near the Interstate 20 intersection with Flowing Wells occurred just after 2 a.m. A clerk told deputies a man wearing a white T-shirt, blue jeans, black shoes and a white head wrap entered the store and demanded money from the register.
The clerk did not see a weapon, but the man reached under his shirt as though he had one. After taking the store's money, the robber ordered the clerk to the floor and left.
Evans eBay shopper orders 'Star Wars' lightsabers, gets bricks
An Evans man who ordered a dozen Star Wars lightsabers online instead received boxes containing bricks and a note.
The 39-year-old from the 600 block of Deerwood Way told deputies he ordered the toys May 1 through eBay.com, from a Miramar, Fla.-based novelty company. The boxes arrived Monday with a note presumed to be from the seller.
The note read: "If for some reason you get this, I can explain. I hope you let me!!" The Evans man said he paid about $90 for the toys.
Burglars hit Martinez furniture store, cart off living-room suites
Burglars made off with several thousand dollars in furniture from a Martinez store during Mother's Day weekend.
A manager of Renaissance Furniture in the 3800 block of Washington Road told deputies Monday that several pieces of furniture were taken from the store between closing May 12 and the afternoon of May 13. Items taken included a purple sofa, ottoman and love seat set; a black and gold chaise and sofa; black cocktail tables and end tables; and a cage-styled wine rack with a brass frame.