Police blotter
Thomson man sentenced to serve 48 years in pen
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A Thomson man accused of molesting three Columbia County girls was sentenced Wednesday to 48 years in prison.
Superior Court Judge Neal Dickert sentenced James Samuel Wiederkehr after he was found guilty at a June bench trial of seven counts of child molestation and one count of felony statutory rape, according to Assistant District Attorney Rex Myers. Wiederkehr, 36, was indicted in 2005 of 10 counts of child molestation, two counts of rape and two counts of aggravated sexual battery, according to the indictment.
The charges stem from acts that occurred between January 2000 and July 2005 against three girls, listed as ages 7, 8 and under 16, according to the indictment. Police say Wiederkehr knew the girls, who lived in the same neighborhood. He has been held in the Columbia County Detention Center without bond since his August 2005 arrest, Myers said.
Martinez man ordered to pay victim $22,000
A Martinez man pleaded guilty Tuesday in Richmond County Superior Court to hitting a restaurant manager in the face with a broken glass.
Joseph Pate, 28, agreed to plead guilty to aggravated assault, cutting short his Richmond County Superior Court trial, which had begun earlier Tuesday morning. Pate was sentenced to seven years' probation under the First Offender Act.
On April 5, Pate repeatedly turned the lights on and off inside 1102 Downtown Bar and Grill on Broad Street in Augusta, according to reports in The Augusta Chronicle. After he told Pate to stop, the manager said, Pate hit him on the left side of the face with the glass.
The manager needed 33 stitches. Pate agreed to pay the manager $22,000 for his medical expenses, said Assistant District Attorney Inga Hicks.
The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office:
Evans man arrested in kidnapping-robbery case
An Evans man faces charges of kidnapping, battery and robbery by intimidation after he commandeered the vehicle his ex-girlfriend was driving, beat her and stole her money to pay for gas, according to police.
Zachary Neal Walker, 18, of Oxford Drive was arrested Sept. 8 and was being held without bond at the Columbia County Detention Center.
The 19-year-old Grovetown woman told deputies early Sept. 8 that Walker asked her for a ride to a friend's house. She told deputies Walker appeared intoxicated when he pushed her into the passenger seat, hit her several times and demanded $20.
She said Walker told her he was going to buy gas, then take her to a remote area, strangle her and kill her parents. When Walker stopped at a gas station at Lewiston Road and Interstate 20, she ran and told a store clerk to call police.
Walker drove the vehicle to his mother's home, where he told her to return it to his ex-girlfriend's family. The victim was treated by paramedics at the gas station for ripped-out hair and for a swollen lip and eye.
Thomson man charged with pointing gun on I-20
A Thomson man was arrested Monday on charges of pointing a gun at another motorist on Interstate 20 near Grovetown.
Perry Rush Chandler, 46, of West Fieldstone Drive, was released later in the day from the Columbia County Detention Center on $1,100 bond.
A 71-year-old man from Five Points, Ala., and a 46-year-old man from Pine Mountain, Ga., told deputies they were traveling west in the right lane on I-20 and passed a slow-moving vehicle that was traveling in the left lane.
That driver then tried to ram their vehicle. Moments later, the other driver passed them while pointing a revolver at the two men.
Deputies caught up with a blue Chevrolet pickup matching their description near Wrightsboro Road and Misty Woods Drive. Deputies said Chandler denied having a weapon.
A search of the truck revealed a .357-caliber revolver in the center console.
Wal-Mart worker is charged in store thefts
An employee of the Wal-Mart in Martinez was arrested Tuesday, accused of stealing electronics from the store for two months.
Sara Elisabeth Putnam, 21, of Heard Avenue in Augusta, was charged with theft by taking. She was released later that day from the Columbia County Detention Center after posting $5,100 bond.
A regional manager for Wal-Mart told deputies that a manager of the Bobby Jones Expressway store told him that Putnam had stolen several electronics items. The regional manager said that when he contacted Putnam, she confessed to the thefts and said she would return the items.
The regional manager said the thefts of a laptop computer, two iPods and a data drive began in July. When some of the items were not returned, the regional manager called police.