Police blotter
Augusta man sentenced on charge from shooting
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An Augusta man was sentenced Monday to time served and just over nine years' probation for a drug charge connected to a case in which a deputy shot a Hephzibah man.
Anderson Levon Kyler, 23, was given credit for the 11 months he has served in jail, followed by nine years, one month on probation, said his attorney, Scott Connell. Kyler had been held in the Columbia County Detention Center since his arrest Sept. 15.
Kyler was in the passenger seat of his own car, which was driven by Michael James Garrett, when Garrett tried to run down an undercover deputy in the parking lot of the Food Lion in Grovetown, authorities said. The deputy shot Garrett in the neck.
Garrett pleaded guilty to aggravated assault on a police officer and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Kyler, who was charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, pleaded guilty to simple possession of cocaine, which is still a felony, Connell said.
Kyler was not granted bond because he was being held on a probation violation for a 2003 cocaine possession conviction, Connell said.
The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office:
Resident of West Lake breaks security-gate arm
A Martinez man who broke the arm of a security gate in his own neighborhood will not face charges.
The property manager of West Lake subdivision called police just before 6 p.m. Thursday after a subdivision security guard said someone broke the automatic arm at the Stevens Creek Road entrance.
The guard said the man, who lives in West Lake, tried to drive his truck under the arm before it lowered after another resident. The guard said that after the arm lowered onto the man's truck, he got out and pushed the arm, breaking it.
The resident said he was angry that the arm would not rise off his truck, so he pushed it. The property manager declined to prosecute, and the resident agreed to pay the $900 damage.
Two Hephzibah women charged with shoplifting
Two Hephzibah women were arrested last week after they were reportedly caught using a stroller to steal more than $500 worth of merchandise from an Evans department store.
Teresa A. Fore, 32, of the 2200 block of Brown Road, and Pamela Rene Frady, 27, of the 4200 block of Seago Road, were charged with felony theft by shoplifting Aug. 22.
Frady was released from the Columbia County Detention Center on Thursday after posting a $2,600 bond, according to jail records. Fore was being held without bond because of a charge of failing to appear for traffic and a probation violation in Richmond County, according to jail records.
Police say that about 12:30 p.m., a security worker in Kohl's, 4227 Washington Road in Evans, saw them women take clothing and shoes into the dressing room. The worker told police the women took the tags off the merchandise, put the items into a backpack and put it on the bottom of a stroller.
The women took the stroller and a 2-year-old boy out of the store, where the store worker stopped them. The merchandise was valued at $527.
Homeowner reports suspicious letter in box
Police responded to an Evans residence Saturday after the owner reported a suspicious letter.
The 24-year-old woman told police that when she checked her mail at 6:36 p.m., she found a notice from the subdivision homeowners' association. The notice told the residents to remove their vehicle from the street.
When the woman spoke with the on-site real estate agent, she was told that the letter was bogus and the that name at the top did not belong to the homeowners' association. The woman requested that a report be filed about mail tamperings.
Martinez-Columbia Fire Rescue Activity Report for Aug. 19-25:
Structure fires, six; wood/brush/grass fires, four; vehicle fires, two; other fire, one; activated fire alarms, 11; gas line ruptures, two; medical incidents, 27; vehicle accidents, nine; electrical incidents, two; weather damage, one; investigate various incidents, seven; and assist residents, one.