Police blotter
11 are sentenced in underage-drinking case
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Young people cited for underage drinking at a Springlakes subdivision after-prom party last month were sentenced Wednesday in Columbia County Magistrate Court.
Twelve people ages 17 to 20 were cited on the county ordinance violation of minors in possession of alcohol after police responded to a noise complaint May 13. The party was held at the home of Jeanine Helen Burack, 43, and her son, Bryan Michael Burack, 18, in the 4100 block of Knollcrest Circle in Martinez.
Cited were Ethan F. Taylor, Marc Andrew Bowman, Sallie Long, Zachary R. King, Madison C. Harte, Sara H. Bruker, Aaron R. Crais, Martin E. Ferrara Jr., Andrew P. Motzkus, Harold P. Rivner, Leigh Claffey and Marybeth Horton.
All except Motzkus, whose case was postponed because he was out of town, pleaded guilty or no contest to the charges Wednesday.
Chief Magistrate Judge J. Wade Padgett sentenced the 11 defendants to pay $250 fines, serve eight hours of community service and serve six months on probation, during which they have a midnight curfew and must submit to random drug tests.
Jeanine Burack and her son were arrested and charged with providing alcohol to minors. They were released after posting $1,100 bonds, according to jail records.
The Buracks are awaiting trial in Columbia County Superior Court.
The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office:
Evans Kmart employee charged in Target thefts
An Evans man identified as a Kmart employee was arrested Wednesday, accused of trying to steal DVDs and cough medicine from a rival retailer.
Jeremy Nickolas Sewell, 17, of the 4600 block of Sheffield Drive, is charged with felony shoplifting and was released Tuesday from the Columbia County Detention Center on $2,600 bond.
A loss prevention employee at the Evans Target on Washington Road told deputies he saw Sewell take a Target bag from the front of the store and then followed him through the building. The employee said he saw Sewell load the bag with three DVD box sets and two boxes of cough medicine.
Company SUV is stolen from Evans residence
A General Motors employee from Evans told deputies Monday someone had stolen his company vehicle from his driveway.
The 67-year-old from Riverside Drive said his black 2007 GMC Envoy sport utility vehicle, valued at more than $33,000, had been left unsecured in the driveway outside his home. It contained keys in the glove compartment, and deputies reported no signs of forced entry.
The man said the vehicle contained a set of custom golf clubs.
North Carolina woman charged in shoplifting
A Goldsboro, N.C., woman was put into the Columbia County Detention Center, accused of trying to steal baby formula from an Evans grocery store.
Elizabeth O'Neal, 32, of Brazil Street, is charged with shoplifting and remained in the jail Friday in lieu of $1,600 bond, according to a jail spokesman.
The manager of the Publix on Washington Road told deputies that store employees has seen several people climbing shelves Tuesday and at least three women trying to place Similac formula into their purses. Two women left the scene in a white Saturn, but deputies stopped a man and O'Neal nearby.
O'Neal told deputies she put four cans of formula into her purse, but dumped them into a meat freezer because she became nervous.
Martinez maid charged with theft by taking
A maid was arrested Tuesday, accused of stealing a watch from a client's Martinez home.
Tanya Findley Tudor, 38, of the 4000 block of Keene Street, Martinez, is charged with theft by taking and was released Wednesday from the Columbia County Detention Center on $2,600 bond.
Deputies were called to a home on Hampstead Place after the 25-year-old homeowner told police she suspected Tudor had stolen a Movado watch. She called Tudor after noticing the watch missing, and Tudor hung up the phone after telling the woman she had the watch.
While deputies were at the home, Tudor arrived with the watch, saying she did not know how it came to be in her possession.