Police blotter

The following accounts were taken from reports provided by the Columbia County Sheriff's Office. Additional reports are available at www.columbiacountyso.org:

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Two arrested in thefts from cars

Two people were arrested Saturday morning after they were connected to a string of thefts from unlocked vehicles.

Joseph Cain Smith, 23, and Heather Nicole Long, 27, were charged with six counts of entering an auto to commit a theft.

Smith, of the 400 block of Old Evans Road in Evans, also was charged with driving on a suspected or revoked license and was being held in the Columbia County Detention Center on Tuesday without bond, according to jail records.

Long, of the 200 block of Yuma Trail in Martinez, was released Monday after posting $45,600 bond, according to jail personnel.

An Evans woman told police just after 3 a.m. Saturday that she saw a man driving a silver car stop at the entrance to Jones Station subdivision. She said the man, later identified as Smith, removed the license plate from the car, which had a female passenger. The resident said she saw the car go up and down the street before stopping at a nearby residence, where she saw the man try to open doors of two locked vehicles and go inside and steal items from three unlocked vehicles, including her own.

The pair, who replaced the license plate before leaving the subdivision, were stopped shortly after the incident by deputies, who saw that the license plate was loosely secured to the car. Smith and Long were connected to six thefts from unlocked vehicles on Laniers Way and Manly Way.

Man chases thieves from his garage

A Martinez man called police Saturday morning after he saw someone stealing tools from his garage.

The 47-year-old man said that about 11:35 a.m., he noticed a truck in his driveway. When he went out to see who it was, he saw a stranger walking out of his garage carrying a power saw, jig saw and nail gun to the truck, where a second man waited. The tools are worth $270.

The resident yelled at the men as they sped backwards and over his mailbox. He fell and scraped his knees and hands as he ran after the truck and tried to grab the door as it sped away.

Appling man loses chickens, clothing

A man reported to police Friday that two ducks, four chickens and their cages, along with other personal property, were missing from his Appling home.

The 27-year-old man said he asked police to escort him to the home he shares with a 39-year-old woman to retrieve personal property. He said $7,000 of his shirts, suits, ties and other items was missing, as were the animals and their cages.

The woman allowed police to search the property, but they found no sign of the man's missing items.

Trailer, contents taken from business

The owner of a Martinez racing and machine shop called police Thursday after he discovered that a trailer and its contents were missing from the property.

The owner of JRPW Racing, 3874 Oak Drive, told police someone had stolen a 20-foot-long enclosed trailer between 8:15 and 9:35 p.m. Thursday. Inside the $6,000 trailer were $3,000 worth of tools, four tire and gear racks worth $2,500, and $725 worth of household items.

Martinez-Columbia Fire Rescue Activity Report for the week of March 16-22:

Structure fires, six; wood/brush/grass fires, eight; vehicle fires, four; dumpster fire, one; controlled/unauthorized burns, nine; activated fire alarms, four; activated carbon monoxide detectors, two; gas line ruptures, two; medical incidents, 36; vehicle accidents, 14; electrical incidents, two; weather damage, three; investigations, five; assist residents, four; and mutual aid/public safety assistance, two.