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:
//
Man reports wallet stolen at restaurant
A Hephzibah man called police to a Columbia County restaurant Tuesday after someone used a distraction to steal his wallet.
The 76-year-old man said that about 12:50 p.m. he was leaving the Cracker Barrel at 460 Park West Drive when he passed another man entering the opposite door. He said the man cut in front of him and pretended to drop a contact lens case. As the other man was picking up the case he felt a pull on his pants leg. Then the other man got up and quickly left.
A short time later, he noticed his wallet was missing. The wallet contained seven debit or credit cards, $7 and various forms of identification.
The restaurant manager, who reviewed restaurant surveillance footage, confirmed contact between the two men and said that the man suspected of stealing the wallet then ran around the east side of the building.
The man said his bank informed him that one of the cards was used Tuesday at an area Circle K.
Woman cited for sitting in median
Police arrested a Pennsylvania woman Tuesday and took her to an Augusta hospital after she refused to leave the median of Interstate 20.
A deputy responded to the median of westbound I-20 east of Belair Road to a call of a woman seated on the guardrail in the median. Another deputy had issued the woman a warning earlier in the day because pedestrians are prohibited from walking along the interstate.
The 26-year-old woman said she didn't need help and refused to leave the median. The deputy called an ambulance to evaluate the woman, who said she hadn't taken her medication in 10 days. Supervising police arrived and warned the woman she could be committed under the pedestrian traffic control charge for her own safety, and she still refused to cooperate. She tried to run away.
The woman, who repeatedly pulled away from deputies, was handcuffed and taken to University Hospital for evaluation. Police later arrested her on charges of obstruction of an officer and pedestrian darting out into traffic. She was still being held at the Columbia County Detention Center on Thursday on a $2,200 bond, according to jail records.
Cab driver reports runaway customer
A driver for an Augusta taxi company called police Monday after a woman he dropped off in Martinez refused to pay the fare.
The 56-year-old driver for Checker Cab told police that about 1 p.m. Monday he drove a 19-year-old woman from a motel on Deans Bridge Road to her Ridge Crossing apartment.
She said she needed to go inside for money to pay him. The driver waited for a while, then called police when the woman did not return with money. She refused to answer the door.
Her grandmother, who rents the apartment, returned home and made her go outside. The woman told police she didn't have money to pay the driver and just wanted a ride home.