Police blotter
Computer blamed in Harlem house fire
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A computer is the likely cause of a fire that damaged a Harlem home Saturday afternoon, officials said.
The fire started about 2 p.m. in a two-story brick house in the 100 block of Wells Drive, said Scott Johnson, a volunteer firefighter for the Harlem Department of Public Safety.
Johnson said it appears the fire started in the upstairs office, where a computer was ablaze, according to the home-owner.
The family, including two small children, was at home when the blaze began, but no one was injured, Johnson said.
Fire damage was contained to the upstairs area, with heavy smoke and water damage downstairs, Johnson said.
The following accounts were taken from reports from the Columbia County Sheriff's Office. Reports are available at www.columbiacountyso.org:
Grovetown barn damaged; farm's quail released
Someone damaged a barn and released quail that a Grovetown woman was watching while their owner was on vacation.
She went to the property about 3 p.m. Thursday to check on the quail and found tools, shovels, racks and other items scattered in the yard near the barn. Someone had pulled all the automatic feeders off the quail cages and thrown them into a corner of the barn.
The quail had been released from their cages. The woman and her fiance found five dead quail and recovered 20 alive. She said 25 to 35 quail are still missing.
The property had been all right when she checked on it at 10 a.m.
Man robbed during encounter at weigh station
A Columbia man was robbed at gunpoint Saturday at an Interstate 20 weigh station.
He said he approached a dark Ford Taurus at the eastbound weigh station about 1:30 a.m. After a brief conversation with the driver, he got into the Taurus' passenger seat.
The driver put a handgun to his head and demanded his wallet. After getting the wallet, the other driver ordered him out of the car and drove away.
The victim drove to the Lewiston Road I-20 exit and called police.
Woman claims hrassment from whistling man
An elderly Martinez woman told police Thursday morning that someone continually whistles at her and threw something at her house.
The 78-year-old said that just after midnight a man stood outside her home and whistled at her. He then threw something at her home and left.
She said the man has been harassing her for about a year.
Police did not find anything that might have been thrown at the house or anyone suspicious in the area.
Golf car stolen from friend's home
An Evans man told police Sunday that his son said the family's golf car had been stolen from a friend's house.
He said his son took the $5,000 golf car to a friend's nearby home that afternoon, parked it and left for about three hours.
When his son returned, the golf car was gone. He found it in a nearby creek. It appeared someone had used a paper clip to start the engine.
Martinez Columbia Fire Rescue report for Oct. 11-17:
Structure fires, two; car fires, five; controlled/unauth-orized burn, one; fire alarms, nine; medical incidents, 22; vehicle accidents, eight; rescue incident, one; hazardous materials, one; investigate incidents, five; assist residents, one; and mutual aid/public safety assistance, one.