Police blotter

Drugs found during traffic stop and search of home

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A Columbia County couple was charged with several drug offenses Wednesday night after police found drugs in their vehicle during a traffic stop and in their Appling home.

Police stopped Steven Curtis Newman, 42, about 7 p.m. Wednesday at Washington and Davis roads in Martinez, Columbia County sheriff's Capt. Steve Morris wrote in an e-mail. About a gram of methamphetamine and 2.5 grams of marijuana were found inside Newman's 1992 Ford truck.

After the traffic stop, narcotics investigators with the sheriff's office searched the home of Newman and his wife, Kimberly Lynn Newman, 36, at the 5400 block of Tubman Road, where several items commonly used in manufacturing methamphetamine were found, Morris said. Xanax pills, about an ounce of suspected methamphetamine and a shotgun were taken from the home.

The couple was charged with manufacturing and possession of methamphetamine, among other drug charges, Morris said. Steven Newman is also charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Steven Newman was cited with a window tint violation and driving with a suspended license. His wife was cited for allowing a person to drive with a suspended license.

They are being held at the Columbia County Detention Center, and no bond has been set for the couple, Morris said.

Woman in hospital after vehicle crash

A Thomson woman remains hospitalized after she was involved in a single-vehicle wreck in rural Columbia County on Aug. 15.

Harriett L. Bullard, 53, of Reese Jones Road, was in critical condition at Medical College of Georgia Hospital, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

Bullard was driving her Saturn west on Mistletoe Road near Bee Hive Drive in Winfield just before 3:30 p.m. Saturday when her car went off the road and hit a concrete culvert, according to authorities.

Child porn suspect to remain in jail

A judge ruled Tuesday that a Grovetown man indicted for federal child pornography charges will remain in jail pending trial.

Morgan C. Woods, 24, is accused of having images of child pornography on his computer from November 2006 through May. He was indicted by a grand jury this month.

The federal prosecutor's motion to deny Woods' release on bond was granted by U.S. District Court Judge W. Leon Barfield.

Woman's purse taken from office

Columbia County police are looking for whoever stole the purse of an Evans physician's assistant from her work Monday and used her bank cards.

About 2:20 p.m. Monday, the 29-year-old reported her purse missing from Evans Urgent Care on Oakhurst Drive, according to a sheriff's office incident report.

All three of her cards were used at the Evans Wal-Mart on Monday afternoon. A man, seen on a surveillance camera at a CVS Pharmacy wearing a black outfit with an orange hat and sunglasses is considered the thief, according to the sheriff's office. He would face a charge of financial transaction card fraud.

Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff's office at (706) 541-2800.

The following account was taken from a report from the Columbia County Sheriff's Office. Reports are available at www.columbiacountyso.org:

Shoplifting suspect carried copied cash

A Harlem man was arrested on charges of shoplifting at the Martinez Kmart on Tuesday, and police found seven counterfeit bills in his wallet.

A loss prevention officer at the store on Washington Road saw Jason Robert Powell, 32, of County Line Road, hiding pliers and a tool bag in his clothes about 3:30 p.m. .

After handcuffing and searching Powell, a deputy found seven photocopied $100 bills.

Powell was charged with shoplifting and was released Tuesday from the Columbia County Detention Center on a $1,100 bond. He also faces a charge of counterfeiting.