Police blotter
The following accounts were taken from reports from the Columbia County Sheriff's Office. Additional reports are available at www.columbiacountyso.org:
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Neighbor witnessed ATV being stolen
A Martinez man's all-terrain vehicle was stolen Monday as his neighbor watched.
The 41-year-old man said his neighbor called him between 3:30 and 4 a.m. and asked where he was going so early on the ATV.
The owner found his garage door open and the $4,500 Kawasaki missing.
His neighbor told police that she heard someone at his house but that after she called out to him, it got quiet.
A few minutes later, a red truck pulled away with the ATV in it, and she called her neighbor.
7 vehicles are broken into at Evans automotive shop
The owner of an Evans automotive business told police Monday that someone broke into several vehicles on the property.
About 8:30 a.m., he discovered that someone had broken into seven vehicles in front of Watkins Automotive, 4185 Crosstowne Court. Some of the vehicles had been unlocked, and someone shattered windows on others that were locked.
Some of the vehicles were abandoned, the owner said, and he hadn't talked to the owners in months. Police had to wait for inventory lists from the vehicles' owners to determine whether anything was stolen.
Thief is scared off while stealing gasoline from SUV
A Grovetown man said Wednesday that someone was scared off while trying to steal gasoline from his sport utility vehicle.
The 46-year-old said he heard his dogs barking just after 2 a.m. and went outside to check his property. He found the fuel door of his 1993 Chevrolet Blazer open and the gas cap lying on the ground next to the vehicle.
The man said he thinks someone tried to steal gas but was scared off by the barking dogs.
The following account was taken from reports from the Grovetown Department of Public Safety:
Grovetown dentist office is vandalized with paint
An employee of a Grovetown dentist office told police that someone spray-painted the outside of the building.
Between June 10 and June 24, someone used red paint to write on an outside wall.
The damage is estimated to be about $100.