Oct. 18
Theft by receiving stolen property - felony
Possession of tools for commission of a crime
Deputies searched a neighborhood after reports of a man holding a gun to another man’s head. A deputy saw a vehicle approach and could smell the odor of burnt marijuana. The two occupants said they had not seen anyone with a gun and had not heard of the reported incident. When asked about the smell emanating from the car, and they got nervous. They were advised their car was going to be searched and the driver appeared to reach for his gear shifter, prompting the deputy to tell him he should really think about his decision before he attempted to drive away. The passenger reached between the front seat and the console as if he were tucking something. He was advised to raise his hand slowly.
They were patted down, and the driver emptied his pockets. He had five .38-caliber rounds and two latex gloves. Another deputy searched the vehicle and found a .45-caliber handgun with a fully-loaded magazine. He also found a black ski mask. Neither man claimed ownership of the mask, though the passenger said the gun was his. The car, the driver said, belonged to his girlfriend.
A check of the gun through GCIC showed it had been stolen. The passenger said he bought the gun for $150 but could not remember the name of the person who sold it to him. A deputy went to the car owner’s house, and she said she knew nothing about the passenger, the gun, the ski mask or why the two men were in her car.
Oct. 18
A Guyton-area man said his pickup had been stolen the night before. There were tire tracks in the dew where he said nobody had driven in the past few days. Investigators were notified of the missing truck. The complainant called back later and said he had forgotten he left his truck in Harvey’s parking lot the night before.
Oct. 17
Possession and use of drug-related objects
Furnishing, purchasing and possession of alcoholic beverages
Dispatched to a Faulkville convenience store around 9 p.m., a deputy was told of two people who had been sitting in a car at the store for 30 minutes and were believed to be using illegal drugs. The 19-year-old male in the driver’s seat said they were waiting on a friend to bring him money for gas. He told the deputy there was nothing illegal in the vehicle.
The 17-year-old female passenger said the two were talking and said they were not waiting on anyone. When asked if there was anything illegal in the vehicle, she hesitated before stating “not that I know of.” After she was asked if she was sure, she became visibly upset and said there was beer in the car that had been taken from her mother’s refrigerator.
When the deputy went to get the beer from the passenger floorboard, he noticed a soda can cut in half, with a white, powdery residue on the bottom of the interior. There were also two small wads of cotton with a light blue tint and wet to the touch, along with a bottle of water and a lighter. The deputy suspected some pill had been crushed, melted and injected. He found a hypodermic needle in the girl’s purse and small, oval, light blue pills, identified as Sertraline HCL. When asked about the items, the girl began to cry and said she did not want to go to jail. Further inspection turned up two needles in the car.
The driver said he believed the pills were prescribed to the girl for anti-depression. She said they were generics for Zoloft. She also said the medication was not intended to be injected, but she had been injecting them into the top of her left hand.
Oct. 16
Simple battery
A Springfield woman said her estranged husband woke her up and grabbed her by the hair, pulling her out of the bed. She said he was angry about her having bought a new car. The two have been arguing over finances, she said. The victim was advised of warrant procedures.
Oct. 16
Fraud
A Clyo man said he received an email from a woman identifying herself as being from Advance Cash Services, which was identified by Google as a scam. The email alleged a $300 payday loan had been made in 2013 and allegedly deposited in a checking account. The current balance was $946.89. At the time of the alleged loan, the complainant was not employed, so there was not a payday loan, and did not have a bank account. The complainant was told it was his responsibility to check with the three credit reporting bureaus and see if there is anything about this loan on his credit report.
Oct. 15
Traffic complaint/violation
A deputy pulled over a car at Sandhill and Blue Jay roads because it didn’t have tail lights. The driver displayed a South Carolina license but the passenger appeared to be extremely nervous. The passenger handed over his driver’s license and a check of both IDs showed the passenger was wanted on a South Carolina warrant. The passenger subsequently was arrested.
Oct. 15
Burglary - first degree, felony
A Chimney Road woman told deputies someone had broken into her home between Oct. 1-14 and taken five to six pieces of jewelry. She said she did not see any signs of forced entry and the house is locked if no one is home. A deputy found what appeared to be fresh pry marks on the side door. The value of the pieces missing was approximately $2,000. The deputy advised the victim to install dead-bolt locks on all the doors.
Oct. 15
Theft by taking - felony
Deputies were called to a Bloomingdale home where a man said someone had taken his firearm, which had been in his bedroom, without his permission. He was in jail for a family violence charge when his weapon went missing. He also filed an Oct. 19 report that someone had taken his vehicle from his home without permission. He said his ex-girlfriend has allowed a friend to take the vehicle, and every time he called the friend to bring the vehicle back, she said she was on her way but never showed up. The woman told investigators she did not have the vehicle and it was disabled on the side of Highway 196 in Liberty County. Liberty deputies searched for the vehicle but could not locate it.
Oct. 14
Civil matter
Deputies met with a Rincon-area man who said his tenants left his rental property damaged. They had lived there for two years before they were given a dispossessory notice. Two hours after they were to leave the house, the owner went by and discovered the smell of animal waste. The front door was dented and appeared to have been damaged by a small-caliber bullet. All interior doors were damaged, and the front door jamb was cracked. Door hinges on several kitchen cabinets were damaged. The garage was filled with urine and feces stains. The owner estimated the damage to be about $8,000.
Oct. 14
Terroristic threats
A Rincon man said he had been living with his grandmother and her fiancé for about a month when she woke him up after midnight and they started yelling at him, saying he was a lying thief and he was no longer welcome. He was in the garage gathering his tools and belongings when his grandmother’s fiancé started cursing him, trying to instigate something. His grandmother came into the garage and pointed a rifle at his chest, telling him if he didn’t leave she was going to shoot him. The complainant’s uncle placed his hand on the gun, lowering the barrel to the ground. The grandmother and fiancé both said they had been drinking and they were advised that handling a firearm while under the influence of alcohol was not the way to handle the situation.
Oct. 13
Damage to property
Deputies were informed by a driver that she struck a large object in the road near Sandhill Road after another driver had struck it. It was a black and blue athletic mat. Two hours later, other drivers reported striking a large, black object in the road, and one car was catapulted into the air. The object was discovered to be a mat used for wrestling or mixed martial arts training. The mat was removed from the scene.
Oct. 13
Criminal trespass
Deputies responded to a Goshen Hills home where a man said a neighbor told him a truck he had parked with a for-sale sign in the window may have been damaged. The passenger’s side appeared to have been hit several times by either a BB or pellet gun. No pellets or BBs were found in or around the vehicle.
Oct. 11
Suspicious person
A Guyton-area woman said a man knocked on her door, looking for his father. When she told him he wasn’t there, he began to ask her for money. When she refused, he became irate, and her husband told the man to leave and not come back. Because of the visitor’s history of thefts, the woman wanted the incident documented.
Oct. 11
Theft by taking - felony
Entering automobile or other motor vehicle
A Springfield man told deputies someone broke into his truck and removed the .45-caliber pistol kept in the center console.
Oct. 11
Domestic dispute
As deputies arrived at the scene, a woman who called in the complaint was picking up pieces of her vehicle’s ignition fob, which had been smashed against the side of her house. She had been in an argument with her boyfriend about him talking to another woman. She said he refused to return her keys or cell phone as he put his belongings into another friend’s vehicle. She sat in the vehicle in an attempt to have him return the items. She alleged he pulled her from the vehicle, tearing her blouse, then broke her key fob against the house and left with her cell phone. The complainant said it was at least the third time law enforcement officers have been summoned to the residence on a domestic dispute call. She was advised again how to get in touch with Victim Witness and how to seek warrants through the magistrate court. She also was told to contact dispatch if the offender returned to the scene.
Oct. 10
Simple battery - family violence
Harassing phone calls
Deputies responded to a Go Cart Road address after a shooting was reported. A deputy was told a victim was being taken to the hospital and the suspect was still on the scene. A man there said his son told him another man had assaulted the son and others, then fired a shotgun into the air. He also said no one had been shot and the only injury was somebody who had fallen and suffered a scrape to the head.
The man said the suspect was using steroids and might have been experiencing an effect, and the suspect had assaulted his son and others at a party.
The suspect’s son told deputies the party was partially for his birthday and he was talking about a problem with his vehicle when his father became enraged. His father then made a motion that made him believe he was about to get struck, and he and his father grabbed each other and started shoving each other. His grandfather stepped in and the three of them fell to the ground. His father stood back up and punched him in the forehead. Others stepped in to separate them, and his grandmother fell and struck the back of her head.
Witnesses told deputies the suspect went into his house after the confrontation, then came to the front door, held a shotgun up and fired it into the air, yelling for them to “get the (expletive) of my land.”
Deputies came back to the area after a report of harassing text messages. The complainant said he told the sender of the messages, the suspect from the earlier shotgun firing, to leave him alone. While speaking to the suspect, a deputy told him he was providing the complainant information on how to seek a warrant. The suspect became argumentative and raised his voice. The cell phone’s battery died during the conversation. The deputy used his personal cell phone to call the suspect back, who debated the circumstances of the text messages. The deputy’s cell cut off as a result of poor service coverage in the area.
