Police blotter
Bond hearing today for woman and son
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A bond hearing for a Columbia County woman and her son accused of murder is scheduled for today.
Rebecca Sears, 41, of 227 Hot Springs Drive, and Christopher Bowers, 20, of the 4000 block of Briarwood Drive, Martinez, are accused in the fatal beating of Laverne "Kay" Parsons, Sears' next-door neighbor.
The bond hearing will be at the Columbia County Justice Center in Evans. An arraignment hearing will be held at the same time, said Sears' attorney, Victor Hawk.
The following accounts were taken from reports from the Columbia County Sheriff's Office. More reports are at www.columbiacountyso.org:
Grovetown store robbed with tool
A man with a tire iron robbed a Grovetown convenience store Thursday.
The clerk of the Lewiston Express, 107 Lewiston Road, told police that a man wearing a white sweater around his face tried to buy a cigar about 6:30 a.m. When the cash register drawer opened, he pulled a tire iron from his sleeve. The clerk backed away while the robber reached across the counter and grabbed $5 bills from the drawer. The clerk slammed the register closed before the robber could take any more money.
Police found some money east of the store, where the robber had run.
Money stolen from confused cashier
A customer stole $150 from a Martinez supermarket after confusing a teenage cashier.
The manager of Food Lion, 4087 Old Petersburg Road, said that about 11:20 a.m. the customer deceived the cashier while another man appeared to block the checkout lane so no one else could enter.
The customer tried to buy a soft drink with a $50 bill, then asked the cashier for the $50 bill back so he could give her a $100 bill. He then told the cashier he wanted five $20 bills and two $10 bills. They exchanged money back and forth.
The men left in a dark-green Volvo with a dark-green, out-of-state license plate.
Quiznos is robbed; safe is taken out
The Evans Quiznos sandwich shop reported to police Saturday that someone stole a safe from the restaurant office.
When the assistant manager arrived at the restaurant at 4272 Washington Road just before 8:30 a.m., she found the back door ajar. When she went to the office, one of the two combination safes was missing, and the front door of the other was broken off. Police found scratches on the floor where one safe was dragged.
The key to the register, normally kept in a basket nearby, was missing. The assistant manager opened the register, which also had been emptied of cash.
Pry marks and damage were visible on the back door.
Donation box for charity is stolen
Someone stole an outside donation box from the drive-through lane of a Martinez McDonald's.
The manager of the restaurant, 4478 Columbia Road, said that between 2 and 4 a.m., someone stole the plastic donation box for the Ronald McDonald House. She said the thief cut the padlock off and bent a metal security bar to remove the box.
Martinez Columbia Fire Rescue report for May 3-9:
Structure fires, two; vehicle fires, two; controlled/unauthorized burns, six; activated fire alarms, 10; interior natural gas leak, one; medical incidents, 27; vehicle accidents, 15; weather damage, one; investigate various incidents, two; assist residents, two; and mutual aid/public safety assistance, two.