Police blotter
Ex-investigator gets probated sentence
//
A former Columbia County sheriff's investigator accused of forging victims' names on official documents pled guilty and was sentenced to probation last week.
Former property crimes Investigator Brooke Renai Kelly, 35, pled guilty Thursday to violating the oath of a police officer and three counts of forgery. Superior Court Judge Michael Annis sentenced her to seven years' probation under the First Offender Act, $5,000 in fines and 200 hours of community service.
Kelly, who also is a former investigator for the Richmond County Sheriff's Office and the Army, was arrested in October after a crime victim said her case was incorrectly closed and her name was forged on a waiver-of-prosecution form. Kelly's attorney said she simply "cut corners."
During an internal investigation, police discovered that Kelly had forged victims' names on forms in nine cases. Most of those victims received calls from Kelly and wanted their cases closed, Columbia County sheriff's Capt. Steve Morris has said. At least one victim wanted the sheriff's office to proceed with investigation and prosecution.
Kelly was terminated from the sheriff's office after her arrest.
The following accounts were taken from reports from the Columbia County Sheriff's Office. Additional reports are at www.columbiacountyso.org:
Purse stolen while woman slept in car
An Augusta woman sleeping in her car woke up and found that her purse had been stolen.
The 48-year-old said she was in the parking lot of Euchee Creek Library, 795 Louisville Road near Grovetown, about 11 a.m. waiting for it to open. She said someone saw a man reach through her open passenger window and take her purse from the passenger seat.
The witness told police he saw two men loitering around her car. One man left in a silver Dodge 1500 pickup. The other grabbed the purse and ran toward Louisville Road.
The woman said she called police while trying to follow the truck. She spotted the truck in a vacant lot off Louisville Road, but when she turned around, the truck sped away. She said she found several items from her purse in the lot.
Weapons found at high, middle schools
Pupils took weapons to two Columbia County schools Friday.
Just after 10 a.m., someone saw a pupil at Columbia Middle School, 6000 Columbia Road, using a 3-inch blade to carve on a notebook during class. The pupil was taken to the Columbia County Detention Center, charged with having a weapon on school property and released to his father.
Just after noon, an Evans High School public safety officer called police after three people said they saw a student pull a large knife out in class. One said he heard the student brag about the knife.
The public safety officer found the weapon in the student's front pocket.
The student was charged with felony possession of a knife on school grounds.
Man charged with firing at neighbor
An Evans man was arrested Saturday on charges of threatening and shooting at a neighbor.
Anderson Choice, 53, of the 900 block of Cobb Road, was charged with aggravated assault. He was held in Columbia County Detention Center on a $25,100 bond, according to jail records.
A 24-year-old man living down the street said that as he walked past Choice's home just before midnight Friday, Choice came out of his home, brandished a weapon and threatened to shoot him. The man said that Choice shot at him as he walked away.
After police arrived, Choice walked up from the woods. A shell casing was found in front of his home.
He was arrested, then treated for high blood sugar.
Parent finds online threat to teacher
A Greenbrier Middle School teacher was notified Thursday of a message threatening her on the Internet.
The school public safety officer said a parent told her of the death threat posted on a pupil's MySpace page and looked it up.
The pupil told police that she was angry at the teacher for taking away her cell phone for texting during class the previous day. She was taken to Juvenile Court and released to her parents.
Return of animal crates sought
The owner of Heartsong Spay Neuter Clinic is seeking the return of three animal crates that were taken Monday from the rear of the facility on South Belair Road.
Loretta Emmons said the two large and one small crate are badly needed by the business and will be taken back, no questions asked.
For information, call (706) 860-9300.
Martinez Columbia Fire Rescue report for May 10-16:
Structure fires, two; wood/brush/grass fire, one; vehicle fire, two; controlled/unauthorized burns, four; activated fire alarms, 11; medical incidents, 20; vehicle accidents, six; weather damage, one; investigate various incidents, three; and assist residents, five.