Police blotter

Man killed by boat propeller

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The body of a 19-year-old Augusta man who authorities say was killed by a boat propeller was found in Thurmond Lake Thursday afternoon.

An autopsy Friday showed Elliott Rivers died when he was hit in the head and back by the propeller. Rivers was boating with friends at about 4 p.m. when he was thrown overboard as the boat he was riding in made a sharp turn near the area of Lake Springs Park and Tradewinds Marina near Thurmond Dam, Columbia County Emergency Services Director Pam Tucker said.

Dive team members and an underwater camera were used to search for Rivers' body in an area of water 35 to 40 feet deep, she said. Visibility was limited in the area to 3 to 4 feet.

Tucker said Rivers was described by friends as being a good swimmer. Authorities discovered damage to the propeller of the boat Rivers was in, Tucker said.

County sheriff's deputies and Georgia Department of Natural Resources law enforcement officers were on scene to protect the site. The Richmond County Dive Team was involved in the search as well.

Two brothers arrested on drug charges

Two Martinez brothers were arrested on drug charges Tuesday after deputies conducted a raid at their Spencer Street home, Columbia County sheriff's Capt. Steve Morris said.

Kenneth Edward MacDaniel, 45, was charged with manufacturing marijuana and was released from the Columbia County Detention Center Wednesday on $25,100 bond. Darin MacDaniel, 44, was charged with possession of controlled substances and released from jail Wednesday on $12,700 bond.

Narcotics investigators executed a search warrant at the MacDaniel home and found 11 marijuana plants in the back yard, Morris said. Investigators also found the prescription medications Darvocet and Oxycodone in the home, the captain said.

The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office:

Richmond County firefighter arrested on public drunkenness

An off-duty Richmond County firefighter was arrested Wednesday on a charge of public drunkenness after police say a Martinez woman found him on her property damaging a garden.

Shaun Christopher Nale, 28, of Morehead Drive in Martinez, was released from the Columbia County Detention Center Wednesday night on $275 bond. A 28-year-old Bristol Road resident told deputies she returned to her home and found a man destroying tomato plants in her yard, according to a sheriff's incident report.

The man reportedly later fled the scene when deputies arrived. Officers said they located Nale, who matched the suspect's description, near the intersection of Old Evans and Old Petersburg roads.

The homeowner identified Nale as the suspect, according to the report. She declined to press criminal trespass charges when a relative of Nale agreed to pay for damages, according to the report. Deputies reported Nale as acting extremely intoxicated and noted in the report that he kicked a patrol car.

Fire destroys tree

A Martinez woman told deputies early Thursday that someone destroyed a tree in her yard by setting fire to it with fireworks.

The 42-year-old from Maywood Drive told deputies someone entered her front yard and placed fireworks in the leaves of her Sago palm tree. When the fireworks exploded, they engulfed the tree in flames.

Martinez-Columbia Fire Rescue firefighters responded and put out the tree and nearby pine straw. No one was injured.