Police blotter
Motorist faces charges in soldier's traffic death
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A Fort Gordon soldier killed in a traffic accident Friday night has been identified, and the driver involved in the wreck faces charges.
Sgt. Kevin Taron Wilson, 24, was killed instantly when his motorcycle collided with a pickup at Columbia Road and Miramar Drive in Martinez, officials said. He was assigned to Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center, according to Fort Gordon spokeswoman Marla Jones.
Columbia County sheriff's Capt. Steve Morris said Sunday that Jason Robert Walker, 20, of Shadowmoor Drive, was driving the Ford Ranger involved in the accident. Walker, who was traveling on Miramar Drive, did not stop at a stop sign at the Columbia Road intersection and pulled in front of Wilson's Honda CBR600 motorcycle while turning left onto Columbia Road, according to a sheriff's office incident report.
Walker was arrested and charged with second-degree vehicular homicide, disregarding or failure to yield the right of way at a stop sign, and failure to yield the right of way while turning left, according to the incident report.
Walker was released from the Columbia County Detention Center early Saturday morning after posting a $3,800 bond, according to jail records.
Suspect in arson case surrenders to police
A Grovetown man wanted by Columbia County authorities in connection with a house fire Thursday night surrendered early Saturday.
Columbia County sheriff's deputies were looking for Steven Royal Black, 43, of the 1400 block of Lone Oak Drive, in connection with a fire at a house on Lone Oak Road near Harlem. He was booked into the Columbia County Detention Center about 2:15 a.m. Saturday, jailers said.
Black is charged with first-degree arson and was being held Tuesday on $25,100 bond, according to jail records. Authorities said the house, near Old Augusta Highway, was unoccupied and there were no injuries from the fire.
The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office:
Water sprinkler left on woman's front porch
A Martinez woman called police Sunday after a neighbor told her of vandalism to her front porch.
The 44-year-old woman told police she received a call from the neighbor, who said that someone had put a sprinkler onto her porch and turned it on.
When she arrived home, she found her sprinkler on the porch spraying her front door.
The resident said she has had numerous problems at her home, including bricks being moved from her backyard to various areas on her property. Someone also has damaged a window screen in the rear of the home.
Manager reports thefts at Martinez restaurant
The manager of a Martinez restaurant told police Saturday that a former manager stole nearly $4,000 from the restaurant.
The manager of the Golden Corral, 227 Bobby Jones Expressway, said he recently discovered that on July 28 or 29, the ex-manager took an envelope containing $2,673.14 that belonged to the restaurant. On Aug. 7, the manager said the ex-employee took another envelope containing $1,280.
The former manager had resigned from her position Sept. 7. The manager provided a DVD of footage from the restaurant security cameras showing the thefts. Police have been unable to contact the former manager, and as of Monday there had been no arrest.
Two Evans mailboxes reported vandalized
Police responded to two calls Saturday of Evans residents reporting vandalism to their mailboxes.
A 52-year-old woman told police that after 6 p.m. Saturday, she noticed that someone had put something into her mailbox on Aspen Laurel Drive and burned it. An investigation revealed that the substance appeared to be feces.
A second Evans woman told police Saturday that between 8 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. Saturday, someone put an open bottle of syrup into her mailbox on Sussex Drive. The 65-year-old said the syrup damaged the mailbox.