Police Blotter

22-year-old drowning victim is identified

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Authorities have identified a man who died in a Thurmond Lake drowning incident during the weekend.

Edtwon Jamar Jackson, 22, of Thomson, died Saturday in the Lake Springs area, said Pam Tucker, Columbia County emergency management director.

She said his was the third fatality at the lake in a month and warned swimmers to use extreme caution.

Jackson's body was found at 8:37 p.m. in 11 feet of water, Tucker said.

An autopsy will be performed in Atlanta today, said Columbia County Deputy Coroner Harriet Garrison.

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

Fires reported near Lakeside High School

Martinez-Columbia Fire Rescue recently responded to two woods fires near Lakeside High School that investigators believe were set by arsonists.

A fire department investigator reported the first fire to police just after 6 p.m. Friday. Firefighters responded to reports of woods fires behind the baseball field at the school at 533 Blue Ridge Drive in Martinez.

Firefighters found two scorched areas 20 to 30 feet into the woods behind the baseball field where a game was being played. The investigator said the fire was not started naturally and that many juveniles were seen in the area just before the fires.

Firefighters responded to a second fire at about 9:30 p.m. Saturday. A fire department lieutenant told police a 25-by-20-foot area near the school was on fire when they arrived and he believes the fire was intentionally set.

Police say woman tried to steal $800 in food

A Evans woman was arrested early Sunday morning after the night manager of an Evans grocery store reported that she tried to steal more than $800 worth of groceries.

Catina Marie Kelly, 33, of the 500 block of Fairfield Way, was charged with theft by shoplifting and was being held Monday in the Columbia County Detention Center without bond, according to jail records.

The manager said he saw Kelly walk out of the front door of the Kroger at 4355 Washington Road with a cart full of groceries she had not paid for. When the manager confronted her just outside the store, Kelly claimed to have paid for the merchandise and said her son had the receipt. The son did not have a receipt, and the manager said he confirmed with the on-duty cashier that Kelly had not checked out.

Employees on break outside the store said they saw Kelly leaving with the groceries; they said that she claimed to be going to check on her children in the car and that she had paid for the groceries with a check.

When the manager said they could go back inside and look for the check, he said, Kelly left her cart and went to her car yelling that she would call her attorney and be back with her husband.

When Kelly returned to the store a short time later to retrieve her cell phone, she was arrested.

Home builder reports theft of wire, boxes

The superintendent of an Evans builder called police Friday after discovering that someone had stolen more than $500 worth of wiring from an Evans home under construction.

The J.W. Ivey and Associates superintendent told police that between 3 p.m. Thursday and 8 a.m. Friday someone had entered a home partly constructed house on Sumter Landing Court, cut and stole about 1,600 feet of electrical wiring and numerous electrical boxes worth about $550.