Police blotter
Grovetown Middle teacher is killed in one-car crash
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A seventh-grade special education teacher at Grovetown Middle School died Monday in a single-vehicle wreck in Appling.
Ida Ware Scott, 23, of Lincolnton, died when her car hit a tree on Ray Owens Road near Appling, Columbia County Deputy Coroner Harriett Garrison said. Scott was traveling north on Ray Owens Road just after 3 p.m. when she passed a vehicle at excessive speed, Garrison said.
When her Nissan Maxima went off the road, Scott overcorrected, and the car veered across oncoming lanes and off the road, where it hit a tree, Columbia County sheriff's Capt. Steve Morris said.
Repo couple is sought on murder charges
A South Carolina couple is sought on charges of fatally running down an Augusta man.
Michael Faron Brown, 27, and his wife, Victoria Brown, 21, are being sought in the death of 64-year-old William Jacobs, who was hit by a wrecker just after 7 p.m. Thursday outside a home on Roswell Drive in Martinez. He died of his injuries.
Police say Jacobs was visiting Lidie Joseph Clements, 55, at the time. When the men returned to Clements' home, they saw the Browns in a wrecker attempting to repossess Clements' Dodge truck. Because Jacobs' Buick was parked between Clements' truck and the road, the Browns were damaging both vehicles in an attempt to retrieve the truck, according to a Columbia County Sheriff's Office incident report.
Clements told police that Michael Brown, who was driving the wrecker, repeatedly pulled forward, then backward, damaging both vehicles, when Clements approached the wrecker and tried to speak with Brown.
When Brown backed up, then drove forward again, the truck broke loose from the wrecker, which sped forward toward Clements, according to a police report.
Clements said he dived out of the way to avoid being hit. When he turned around, Clements said, the wrecker had driven over Jacobs. The Browns left in the tow truck.
Jacobs was taken to Doctors Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
In addition to murder, Michael Brown is charged with aggravated assault with a motor vehicle, and Victoria Brown is charged with simple battery for pushing Clements' wife, Cindy, during the repossession.
Jacobs' death is the second homicide of 2009 for Columbia County. Kay Parsons was killed March 25 in her Grovetown home. The two people charged in that slaying are scheduled for a bond hearing Thursday at the Columbia County Justice Center in Evans.
The following accounts were taken from reports from the Columbia County Sheriff's Office. Additional reports are available at www.columbiacountyso.org:
Woman arrested in attempted theft
An Augusta woman was arrested Sunday on charges of trying to steal a Grovetown man's vehicle.
Jessica Michelle Kelley, 33, of the 3600 block of Belair Road, was charged with driving under the influence and entering an auto to commit theft. She was released from the Columbia County Detention Center on Monday on an $8,700 bond.
The man, also 33, told police that about 6:30 p.m. Kelley rang his doorbell. He asked her what she wanted through an open window, and she demanded a pair of flipflops and the keys to his Jeep Wrangler.
When he refused, Kelley said it didn't matter because she could just "hot-wire" the Jeep parked in his driveway. She got inside the unlocked vehicle.
Police found Kelley in the Jeep. She told police that she had been in an automobile wreck and that earlier in the day she had used drugs.
Next-door neighbors burglarized in Evans
Two Evans neighbors called police Thursday after discovering that someone had broken into their homes.
A 33-year-old man said that between 2 and 7:45 p.m. someone had forced open a bedroom window.The burglar ransacked his bedroom and closet. He said an unlocked fire safe was opened and someone had stolen three passports, his Social Security card, three car titles and the deed for his Atlanta home. Two laptop computers and $4,000 were stolen from other rooms of the home.
A 33-year-old neighbor told police that just after 7:30 p.m., he found that someone had forced open a rear window of his home. The entire home was ransacked and someone stole two credit cards and two checkbooks. Two laptop computers were reported taken.
Martinez-Columbia Fire Rescue report for April 5-11:
Structure fires, two; wood/brush/grass fire, one; vehicle fire, one; controlled/unauthorized burns, two; activated fire alarms, 12; interior natural gas leak, one; medical incidents, 17; vehicle accidents, 10; rescue incident, one; electrical incidents, three; investigate various incidents, four; assist residents, two; and mutual aid/public safety assistance, three.