Police blotter

Evans man charged in death of teacher

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The district attorney's office filed a criminal accusation Wednesday against an Evans man accused of killing a kindergarten teacher in July with his sport utility vehicle as she walked along Mullikin Road.

District Attorney Ashley Wright said Brandon Wise, 25, of the 3900 block of Mullikin Road, was charged with second-degree vehicular homicide, traveling too fast for conditions and having improper windshield tint, all misdemeanors. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a $1,000 fine, Wright said.

Wise was arrested Wednesday and released from the Columbia County Detention Center the same day after posting a $15,000 bond, according to jailers.

Wise was southbound in a Ford Expedition about 9 p.m. July 16 when the vehicle hit Christian Giles, 24, who was walking her dogs with her husband.

Giles, a kindergarten teacher at Augusta's John Milledge Elementary School, died from a head injury, said county Coroner Vernon Collins.

Auburn Giles told authorities his wife was walking on the shoulder of the road near their home on Sawbuck Way.

Wise told police he didn't see Giles until it was too late to avoid hitting her, said sheriff's Capt. Steve Morris.

Columbia County has since built a sidewalk along Mullikin Road and is planning to install streetlights.

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

Confiscated iPod is missing from bus

A bus driver for the Columbia County Alternative School told police Monday that a student's confiscated iPod was stolen.

The driver had confiscated the $300 iPod from a student Thursday. As he loaded the bus about 2:20 p.m., he placed the iPod into a cup holder. After driving about 10 minutes he noticed it was missing.

He pulled the bus over and called police. Deputies questioned the students on the bus, but none confessed. The bus was driven to Evans High School, where a school administrator searched the students. The iPod was not found.

Man charged with shoplifting steaks

A Martinez man was charged Monday with stealing steaks from an Evans supermarket.

Richard James Archer Sr., 39, of the 400 block of Old Anderson Road, was charged with misdemeanor shoplifting. He was being held Friday in the Columbia County Detention Center on a $1,600 bond, according to jail records.

The manager of the Food Lion, 526 N. Belair Road, told police that about 4:30 p.m. Archer shoved two packs of New York strip steaks, priced at $63.48, down his pants and left.

Police stopped Archer's vehicle, recovered the meat and two passengers told police that he had indeed stolen the steaks. Two other packages of steaks had been stolen from a Food Lion on Wrightsboro Road in Augusta.

Surveillance footage from the Evans store showed Archer placing the steaks into a basket, then returning an empty basket and leaving the store with nothing in his hands.