Police Blotter
The following accounts were taken from reports from the Columbia County Sheriff's Office. Additional reports are available at www.columbiacountyso.org:
//
Teen was at home during burglary
A Grovetown teen told police Thursday that he was in his home when someone walked in and stole a game console controller.
The 16-year-old said he was in an upstairs bathroom in his Silver Run Falls home about 7:25 p.m. when he heard someone open the back door and walk up the stairs toward the bathroom.
He saw a man wearing a black "doo-rag," black shirt and jeans walking in the upstairs hallway. The man closed the door to the bathroom where the teen was.
The thief ran down the hallway, down the stairs and out the back door.
The teen called police, who searched the home and woods behind it. There were no signs of forced entry, and the door appeared to have been left unlocked. The teen said the only thing missing was an Xbox game controller.
The teen's mother said she has problems with people using her backyard as a shortcut.
Man's taxes already filed with stolen ID
An Evans man told police Friday that someone used his personal information to file 2009 income taxes.
The 46-year-old said he tried to use his Social Security number to file his taxes online using TurboTax on Thursday and he received an e-mail stating his taxes were denied.
The man said he tried again and got a similar return e-mail stating the taxes were denied and that he should check the Social Security number.
After confirming his number with the Social Security office, the man called the Internal Revenue Service. An IRS employee informed him that someone had already filed 2009 income taxes using his Social Security number.
Employee steals store's deposit
A Dollar Tree employee was fired Thursday after her supervisors discovered she stole money from a night deposit bag.
The district manager of the store at 3830 Washington Road, Martinez, said the woman, who was not arrested, was terminated for tampering with a money deposit bag the week before. He learned that she had a money deposit bag from April 7. The bank confirmed no deposit was made for that day.
When the manager called her about the missing bag, the woman said she would return the deposit to the store, and later made excuses why she had not.
Richmond County deputies contacted the woman to arrest her Thursday, when she claimed to have returned the money bag to the Dollar Tree store in North Augusta. The manager said he went to the store and retrieved the bag, which was torn open. He said $345 was missing and there was a handwritten note advising the bag be delivered to the manager at the Martinez store.
Martinez Columbia Fire Rescue report for April 4-10:
Structure fires, four; wood/brush/grass fires, five; vehicle fires, two; controlled/unauthorized burns, seven; activated fire alarms, five; activated carbon monoxide detectors, two; gas line ruptures, two; medical incidents, 24; vehicle accidents, eight; rescue incident, one; investigate various incidents, five; and assist residents, three.