Police Blotter
Former teacher sent to prison
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A former Harlem High School teacher who was convicted of having sex with a student was sentenced to 10 years in prison Friday.
At a June bench trial in Richmond County, Superior Court Judge Carl C. Brown Jr. had found Melissa L. Chase, 29, guilty of sexual assault against a student enrolled in school. Chase was arrested Nov. 13 after she had a sexual encounter last year with a 16-year-old girl. The teenager had been one of her students the year before.
On Friday, Brown sentenced the former Harlem High School softball coach and teacher to 10 years in prison, the mandatory minimum sentence, followed by five years' probation.
The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office:
Woman complains after lawn mowing
A Grovetown woman called police Sunday after discovering that someone had mowed her grass.
The woman said that between 3 p.m. and midnight Saturday, someone mowed the grass in the front and side yards in Orchard Hill subdivision.
She did not authorize anyone to cut the grass.
The resident said her Bermuda grass was damaged because it was cut too short.
Driver attacks man in store parking lot
A Hephzibah man told police he was hit in the face with a beer bottle during a skirmish in the parking lot of a Martinez retail store.
The man said that at about 9 p.m. Friday, he was walking through the parking lot of Wal-Mart, 260 Bobby Jones Expressway, when he suspected that a truck towing a boat in his direction tried to hit him.
The man said he hit the truck with his hand to get the driver's attention, after which the driver got out yelling at him. The driver truck threw a 40-ounce beer bottle at the man's face, hitting and cutting his nose.
A passer-by saw the incident and pulled the driver off the man. The driver drove away toward Richmond County.
The man and the witness told police the truck driver was intoxicated.
Woman says thief stole 2 roosters
Police responded to a Grovetown home Sunday after a woman reported that someone stole two of her grandmother's chickens.
The woman, who was watching her grandmother's home while she was on vacation, said that between 4:30 p.m. Friday and 8:20 p.m. Sunday, someone stole two young white roosters from a pen.
The woman said that the pen had not locked and that four other chickens in the pen were not stolen.
Martinez-Columbia Fire Rescue activity report for the week of July 29-Aug. 4:
Structure fire, one; wood/brush/grass fire, one; vehicle fire, one; activated fire alarms, seven; gas line ruptures, two; medical incidents, 22; vehicle accidents, 11; electrical incidents, two; weather-related damage, one; investigate various incidents, one; and assist residents, three.