Police Blotter
The following accounts were taken from reports from the Columbia County Sheriff's Office. Reports are available at www.columbiacountyso.org:
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Couple attacked, bitten by teen
An Evans couple was attacked by a 16-year-old Tuesday while checking on their daughter's residence in Martinez.
The 47-year-old woman was contacted by her daughter, who was out of town, to check the home after she received word from a neighbor that her stepdaughter and other juveniles were at the residence when they weren't supposed to be.
When the couple arrived about 9:30 p.m. the juveniles had left.
They soon heard a knock at the front door and the woman said the teen yelled at her and punched her. The teen then kicked her stomach, punched her in the face, bit her right arm and pulled her hair.
The woman's husband tried to restrain the girl, who threatened to hit him with a ceramic pot and tried to strike him with a metal pot stand. He was bitten by the teen on his left arm.
The woman was taken to the hospital for injuries.
The teen was turned over to her mother. The couple told police they want to prosecute.
Evans man charged with arson
An Evans man was charged with arson Tuesday after he tried to burn belongings owned by his employer and landlord.
Kenneth Charles Erkens, 50, of the 700 block of Jennings Road, was charged with third-degree arson. He remained at the Columbia County Detention Center on Thursday with bond set at $7,600.
Erkens, who had been drinking, and another man were unloading items from a trailer when Erkens' employer brought the men lunch.
Erkens had worked for the 62-year-old man for eight years and was allowed to stay at the residence on Jennings Road as payment.
Erkens didn't like what the man brought for lunch, so the employer left. Shortly after, he received a call from Erkens stating that he was owed money from working the previous weekend.
His employer said the money belonged to him because Erkens was behind on utility payments.
The other man working with Erkens reported that Erkens went berserk and poured a chemical substance on his employer's belongings on the trailer and tried to light it with a cigarette lighter. When it wouldn't burn, Erkens then took a log out of a burn pit and threw it onto the items.
Woman reports computer forgery
An Evans woman told police Tuesday that someone created a Craigslist entry listing her home for rent.
The 33-year-old said that her home in the 4000 block of Oregon Trail is currently for sale and listed on the Web site of an area real estate company.
The woman said that photos on the Craigslist ad were taken from her real estate agent's Web site without permission.
TV theft from Walmart thwarted
A loss prevention officer at the Grovetown Walmart told police Tuesday that someone tried to steal a TV from the store.
The 25-year-old said he saw a man put a Sony Vizio TV into a cart about noon and leave without paying.
The man refused to show a receipt to the employee at the entrance of the store. When the loss prevention officer approached him in the parking lot, the man pushed the shopping cart away and ran.
He was picked up by a dark Dodge Durango, which drove toward Interstate 20.
The TV was recovered and returned to the store.
Man threatened by former band mate
An Evans man called police Wednesday to report threatening messages he received from his former band mate.
The 25-year-old told authorities that the man had called his residence three times making threats of shooting him and his parents.
When he was outside his house at about 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, he said the 32-year-old man drove by and told him he was going to shoot him.
The man also received a phone call from a friend, who stated that the former band mate told him to pass along the message that he was going to kill the Evans man.
Correction
Because of incorrect information given to a News-Times reporter, a worker in a March 25 residential construction accident was inaccurately identified as an employee of De La Fuente Construction. Isaias Marroquin does not work for that company. The News-Times regrets the error.