Police blotter
Police seek 3 men in car wash thefts
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Columbia County and Grovetown authorities are looking for at least three men accused of trying to steal from a Grovetown car wash.
The men were at Gate 2 Tire and Auto, 601 E. Robinson Ave., about 2:45 p.m. Monday when they tried to disable one surveillance camera with spray paint and another by moving it with a pool cue, Columbia County sheriff's Capt. Steve Morris said.
The men used a $10 bill with a string taped to it in an unsuccessful attempt to get change several times from a change machine, Capt. Morris said.
The men, who left the car wash in a red Chevrolet Malibu, are also "persons of interest" in two Martinez car wash thefts last week, authorities said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Columbia County sheriff's Investigator Nash Garrett at (706) 541-3943.
The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office.
Kmart clerk, son arrested in scam to steal items
A clerk at a Martinez store and her son were arrested Nov. 17 after being accused of running a scam at the woman's register.
Beverly Nichols Newsome, 49, of the 3300 block of Georgia Highway 88 in Blythe, was charged with theft by deception. She was released Nov. 18 from the Columbia County Detention Center on $5,100 bond.
Her son, Randall Edward Reddick, 20, was charged with shoplifting and released Nov. 18 on $1,100 bond.
A store manager at Kmart on Washington Road said Reddick took two radio-controlled cars and batteries to Newsome's register. She scanned the bar code of one car, voided it, and then put all the items into the man's shopping cart.
The manager said Newsome was observed participating in a similar incident with an unknown shopper a day earlier.
Two mattresses, two portable heaters and a jacket were taken in that incident, the manager told deputies.
Police interrupt theft of ATV
A thief made off with an all-terrain vehicle from an Evans dealership Nov. 18, but police say they prevented his attempt to steal a second.
A sheriff's deputy patrolling the area of Jones Creek attempted to stop a man seen driving an ATV without headlights about 8 p.m. The man refused to stop, then drove the vehicle into brush and crashed it into a pond in an attempt to escape.
When deputies recovered the ATV, they determined it had been stolen from Transportation Solutions of Augusta on Commerce Drive. They also recovered the tires and wheels from another ATV.
When deputies went to the dealership they discovered a fence had been cut, and an owner of the store told deputies a second ATV was missing.
The missing vehicle was described as a maroon Club Car SE1550 4x4 valued at $10,000. The thief, who escaped, was described as a short-haired man wearing camouflage clothing.
Workers say man urinated in store
Employees of a Martinez movie rental store told deputies Nov. 18 that a customer came into the business and urinated on video game covers and the floor.
Workers at Blockbuster on Washington Road said the Martinez man entered the store and rented a movie with a friend. Before he left, the man urinated on displayed X-Box game covers and the carpet.
The manager supplied deputies with the address listed on the man's store membership and with the license plate numbers from a vehicle driven by the second man.
When deputies arrived at the man's Langley Street residence, the 50-year-old denied urinating inside the store. He did, however, admit to urinating outside the building, deputies said.
The store manager declined to prosecute.
The man, who deputies said appeared intoxicated, said he would agree to return to the store to help clean up the mess.