Police Blotter
Grovetown couple denies guilt in child-cruelty case
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A Grovetown couple pleaded not guilty Friday to child-cruelty charges after their infant was burned and the baby and another child tested positive for methamphetamine.
Robert Blake Perdue, 21, and Ashton Elizabeth Schultz, 19, of Kaschwitna Court, pleaded not guilty to three counts of second-degree cruelty to children during their Columbia County arraignment hearing.
Emergency medical workers had responded to the home Dec. 16 to treat chemical burns to the face, hands and mouth of the couple's 19-day-old infant, according to a Grovetown Department of Public Safety incident report.
Hospital workers told police that the burns did not appear accidental and that someone might have intentionally fed the chemical, possibly drain or oven cleaner, to the infant, the report stated.
After a Jan. 5 arrest, Shultz was released from the Grovetown jail on a $7,600 bond, according to jail records.
Perdue was arrested Dec. 24 and is being held in the Columbia County Detention Center without bond on a probation violation.
The following accounts were taken from reports from the Columbia County Sheriff's Office. Additional reports are available at www.columbiacountyso.org:
Martinez home, vehicle are vandalized with paint
A Martinez man told police Friday that someone had vandalized his car and home.
The 32-year-old man said he went outside about 5:30 a.m. Friday and found the door to his Nissan Sentra ajar. Sometime after 9 p.m. Thursday, someone had damaged the windshield and poured a can of white paint onto the hood. The car had been keyed and was spray-painted with obscenities.
The man's home also had been spray-painted with obscenities.
Deputies found a can of black spray-paint beside the garage and a can of white paint along the side of a nearby home.
Grovetown woman hides in closet during burglary
A Grovetown woman told police Thursday that she hid in a closet as someone broke into her home.
The 30-year-old said that around 4:30 a.m. someone woke her up by ringing the doorbell and knocking. When she looked out the window, she saw a man get into the passenger side of a burgundy Chrysler PT Cruiser in front of her house and leave.
When the car returned a few minutes later, the woman called 911. While on the phone with police, she heard breaking glass and hid in her son's bedroom closet.
Police found the molding to her back door lying on the ground; the back door had been forced open, then closed. A piece of the woman's mail was discovered about 30 yards down the street.
Counterfeit $100 bill is passed at Martinez Kroger
Police were called Wednesday after a man got change for a counterfeit $100 bill at the Martinez Kroger.
The manager of the store, 4115 Columbia Road, said that about 2:50 p.m. a man purchased a few items and asked the cashier for change for a $100. The employee marked the bill with a pen used to identify counterfeit currency and gave five $20 bills in return. The man left.
Deputies determined the bill was counterfeit. The man had used his Kroger Plus card when purchasing items.
Kroger's main office in Atlanta refused to release any of the man's personal information to investigators without a subpoena.
Martinez-Columbia Fire Rescue Activity Report for the week of Feb 15-21:
Structure fires, four; wood/brush/grass fires, six; controlled/unauthorized burns, two; other fires, two; activated fire alarms, seven; gas line rupture, one; medical incidents, 14; vehicle accidents, 17; rescue incident, one; investigate various incidents, one; assist residents, one; and mutual aid/public safety assistance, two.