An elderly man in Beech Island was shot to death by his drunken wife Tuesday morning after he repeatedly accused her of cheating,  according to authorities.

William A. Todd, 78, of Maggie Valley Lane, was pronounced dead at about 5:15 a.m. Tuesday after allegedly being shot with a pistol in the abdomen by his wife, authorities said. The couple is shown above in a Facebook photo.

Mary Todd, 76, of Beech Island, has been charged with murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.

Here’s the motive: Mrs. Todd told deputies that her husband had “accused her of cheating,” according to a sheriff’s report.

“He would not stop,” Mary Todd told deputies.

Mrs. Todd confessed to shooting her husband around 4 a.m. Tuesday and admitted that “she had way too much alcohol,” a report says.

An autopsy is scheduled in Newberry later today.

The post Coroner: Beech Island Woman Kills Husband, 78 appeared first on AugustaCrime.com - Richmond, Columbia, and Aiken County Jail - Reports & Mugshots.

This man stole two expensive TV sets from the Bobby Jones Walmart, according to authorities.

Do you recognize him?

The suspect is a black male with long dreadlocks, wearing a red shirt, and black pants.

Authorities say he entered the store on Sept. 21, grabbed a shopping cart, and made his way to the Electronics area. He selected two boxed TVs from a display and placed them in the shopping cart. The subject then took the items to the Garden Center exit and staged the cart. He exited the store and retrieved his vehicle, a silver Mazda passenger car. He placed the TVs in the trunk of the vehicle and fled the scene.

If you recognize him, please call the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office at 706-541-2800.

For other crime news, pick up this week’s Jail Report! Cover image: http://bit.ly/1OSINlU

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A 17-year-old Evans teen attacked his father last week after he demanded his son’s cell phone, according to a sheriff’s report.

(For other crime news, pick up this week’s Jail Report!)

Richard Dempsey, 17, was charged with simple battery under Georgia’s Family Violence Act.

Details of the attack are spelled out in the officer’s report:

The teen’s father arrived home from work last Wednesday to their home on Samarya Lane and realized his son had not completed his chores. So he told the teen to hand over his cell phone.

Richard Dempsey refused and began walking down the hall.

“The father grabbed at his son’s left hand which held the cell phone. His son turned and punched him in the left side of his head,” the officer’s report says.

The father and son then wrestled on the ground until his son was on top of him from behind.  The teen then put his 44-year-old father in a choke-hold and repeatedly punched him in the back of the head.

Questioned by deputies, the teen said that his father woke him up around 5:15 p.m. Wednesday and demanded the cell phone. He said his father tried to grab his cell phone but he walked away.

The suspect claims his father then put his finger in the teen’s mouth and started pulling so he struck him, according to the sheriff’s report.

Officers observed visible bruises to the father’s wrists and a large raised area to the back of his head.

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An Augusta woman died early Monday, two days after she was shot  while riding with a guy involved in a heated argument with his cousin, authorities say.

Brittany Trantham, 21 (pictured at right), was in a vehicle with 28-year-old Jermaz Lawson about 3 a.m. Saturday when Lawson got into an argument with his cousin, Shanadore Harmon (shown in mugshot). The dispute continued on Cunningham Drive when Harman shot at the vehicle Lawson and Trantham were riding in, resulting in the victim being shot.

Deputies rushed to the scene, but Trantham had already been driven to the GRU Emergency Room in critical condition. She died at 12:20 a.m. Monday, leaving a 2-year-old child behind without a mother.

On Cunningham Drive, cops caught Harmon trying to hide underneath a tree, according to a press release. Officers also found his gun and found fired cartridge casings in the road.

Harmon, 36, was initially charged with two counts of aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Murder charges are expected now that Trantham has died.

Background. Harmon is a convicted drug dealer and repeat offender with a history of appearances in The Jail Report. He has a criminal record that goes back to his days as teenager with multiple arrests for drugs, assault, DUI, theft, weapons and fighting cops. he has been in and out of prison six times in Georgia.

Oddly enough, Harmon was arrested a year ago in Augusta for allegedly pointing a gun at a woman’s head in the middle of the street at 1 in the morning and threatening to “blow her brains out.”  He was indicted on for the crime, but prosecutors suddenly dropped the case in March against the convicted felon and put it on the dead docket. The reasons were not immediately clear.

When that alleged crime occurred, Harmon had only been out of prison for two months after serving a 2-year prison sentence for DUI, theft and traffic offenses.

The post Gun Death: Woman Passenger Dies After Cousins Argue in Augusta appeared first on AugustaCrime.com - Richmond, Columbia, and Aiken County Jail - Reports & Mugshots.

Good police work helped nail a serial flasher last week who is suspected in a series of sex crimes in Columbia County as well as Tennessee.

For more crime news, pick up this week’s edition of The Jail Report. 

Joshua Stiles, of McDonald, Tenn., was charged last Wednesday with four counts of public indecency for allegedly showing a video of his genitalia to four girls at the TPS Station in Evans. The girls were ages 15-16.

He is also suspected of stalking a girl inside the Evans Walmart on Oct. 8 and asking the 13-year-old girl to “go for a ride.” But authorities could not charge him with a crime since he didn’t expose himself and the girl declined his offer, according to CCSO Investigator Brian Jones.

Jones said Stiles has family in Columbia County and committed his crimes while staying with them.

Stiles is the same man who made headlines in Tennessee earlier this year for allegedly flashing women throughout the state.

In those cases, authorities say he exposed himself to a woman inside a Belk store at a Clarksville mall in February. A man with the same description then attempted to expose himself to a woman in the Target parking lot but stopped when she told him she was getting his license plate number and calling police.

Later that same day, a similar incident happened in Nashville. The victim was able to take a picture of the man and shared it with city police. That led to Stiles’ identification from those who knew about his history of flashing.

Free on bond, Stiles allegedly continued his perverted ways while staying with his family in Columbia County.

Jones said the suspect has a long history of public indecency and he suspects he may have committed other acts in the CSRA.

“I’m quite sure he has done it more,” Stiles said.

Stiles is free  again after meeting bond requirements in Columbia County and there are no bond requirements, according to authorities.

The post Gotcha! Serial Flasher was Targeting Girls in Columbia County appeared first on AugustaCrime.com - Richmond, Columbia, and Aiken County Jail - Reports & Mugshots.

These shoplifters are accused of taking two cell phone boxes off the display from a Columbia County Walmart and concealing them in a bag and leaving without paying. The lady also took a drink, authorities say.

Recognize them?

If so, please call the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office at 706-541-2800.

For more crime news, pick up this week’s edition of The Jail Report. 

The post Who are They? Shoplifters Steal Cell Phones from Walmart appeared first on AugustaCrime.com - Richmond, Columbia, and Aiken County Jail - Reports & Mugshots.

The principal of Hammond Hill Elementary School was caught driving drunk in North Augusta on a school night with 18 opened beer cans in his truck, according to authorities.

Principal Brad Watson said he was coming from “Hammond Hill Elementary and then from his parent’s house in Greenbriar” when an officer saw him driving slow and pulled him over on Martintown Road at 8:49 p.m. last Thursday.

Watson, 39, smelled of alcohol, failed a sobriety test and blew a .13 BAC level at police headquarters, a public safety report says. Plus, the officer’s report said it took him five attempts to get Watson to pull over despite activating his blue lights, pulling behind the principal’s truck, blowing his horn and using a siren.

Watson denied drinking and showed the officer a cup of Mountain Dew he claimed he got from school. He told the officer that he “dips snuff and uses mouth wash to rinse out the snuff,” a report says.

A search of his truck turned up a load of Natural Light beer:

• A black bag with three warm unopened beer cans inside behind the rear driver seat.
• An empty 12-pack box of beer on the front passenger seat.
• Four ice-cold, unopened beer cans in the front passenger seat. Two of the cans were missing from the six-pack rings.
• Two warm, unopened beer cans and an empty Natural Light 12-pack box in the front passenger floorboard.
• In the center console: 18 empty beer cans  along with a half-inch puddle of spilled beer on the bottom of the console.

Watson was charged with DUI and cited for an open container of alcohol, a report says.

According to previous news reports, Watson was moved this year to Hammond Hill Elementary School after working as principal at Warrenville Elementary School. It is not clear why he was transferred from Warrenville.

Personnel at the school declined comment on the DUI arrest and referred questions to school district spokeswoman Merry Glenne Piccolino.

Here is her statement: “Mr. Watson was placed on leave last week following his self-reporting to our District of the situation you’ve mentioned below. Mrs. Sara-Beth Brown, the Assistant Principal, is assuming all roles of the Principal in his absence.”

Note: He had his mugshot taken first at North Augusta Public Safety and then again when he was transferred to the Aiken County Detention Center, accounting for the two mugshots you see here.

Stay tuned…

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A Harlem High School student has been arrested after allegedly showing porn from his phone to middle-schoolers who were riding home on the same bus, according to Columbia County authorities.

Thomas Gage Thornhill, 18, of Ronda Court, Grovetown, was charged Thursday with electronically furnishing obscene materials to minors.

The mother of a middle-school boy complained that her son “was shown an an explicit video while he was riding the bus #207,” a sheriff’s report says. “The video was shown to most of the middle school students that ride the bus as well.”

Sheriff’s Capt. Andy Shedd said his agency made the arrest and have seized Thornhill’s phone as they investigate the incident, which occurred Oct. 23.

“On his phone, he has images of naked women, and he is showing these younger kids the images,” Capt. Shedd said. “So we have at least two juveniles that saw the images. And based on that, investigators were called in.”

More charges are possible as the investigation continues.

This was not Thornhill’s first arrest. He was featured in The Jail Report earlier this year for charges of simple assault and simple battery, but those charges were later dropped, according to court records. He was 17 at the time of that arrest.

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A Grovetown man was heard laughing at his friends after accidentally setting them on fire when he tossed a gas can into a burning barrel, according to authorities.

(For more crime news, check out this week’s new issue of The Jail Report, sold in local stores.)

The two victims were badly burned by the resulting explosion with both requiring extensive treatment at Doctors Hospital’s Joseph M. Stills Burn Center.

An investigation into the Oct. 23 incident led to Monday’s arrest of Gregory McElroy Bright for two counts of reckless conduct.

The explosion occurred while Bright was drinking with his roommate Dwayne McElroy and Augusta friend Darius Jones at his home at 490 S. Belair Road in Grovetown.

The three men were hanging around a burn barrel when Bright suddenly grabbed a full gas can and threw it into the fire, causing an explosion, according to a sheriff’s report.

“While both men were on fire, Gregory was laughing at them,” a sheriff’s report says.

Jones suffered third-degree burns on both hands, both arms, his chest and face. He is facing numerous surgeries. McElroy had third-degree burns to his right hand, right arm and his back.

Bright, 49,  gave a statement to police saying he was trying to light the burn barrel and grabbed the gas can when it was lighting. He claims he warned his two friends to move away from the barrel but they didn’t move. So he threw the gas can into the fire.

The post Grovetown Man Lights Friends on Fire & Laughs appeared first on AugustaCrime.com - Richmond, Columbia, and Aiken County Jail - Reports & Mugshots.

This thieving couple has moved from Walmart to Target.

According to authorities, they stole electronics from the Evans Target on Friday, just two weeks after they were suspected of a similar offense at the Grovetown Walmart.

Do you recognize them? The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office could use your help to stop their crime spree.

If you can help identify either one, or both, please call the sheriff’s office at 706-541-2800.

(For more crime news, check out this week’s new issue of The Jail Report, sold in local stores.)

The post Evans Thieves: Couple Moves from Walmart to Target appeared first on AugustaCrime.com - Richmond, Columbia, and Aiken County Jail - Reports & Mugshots.

Video outside a Grovetown animal clinic captured a horrific scene on Halloween Day:

A silver vehicle pulls into the parking lot of the Dogwood Park Animal Clinic on Columbia Road.  Someone in the passenger’s seat throws a cat wrapped in an orange blanket out of the car.  The cat exits the blanket and staggers a short distance before collapsing.

A black female exits the driver’s seat and walks over and looks at the cat for a moment.  She then gets back into the car and drives off.  The tag on the vehicle is not visible.  The cat is later found dead by an employee of the clinic.

The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office is asking for your help in identifying the female involved in this possible animal cruelty case.  They believe the vehicle may be a Mercedes Benz.

Columbia County Animal Services brought the case to the agency’s attention and sheriff’s investigators are assisting them with this case in trying to identify the female.

Call the sheriff’s office at 706-541-2800, or contact Sergeant Tim Burnley directly at 706-541-3924.

(For more crime news, check out this week’s new issue of The Jail Report, sold in local stores.)

The post Woman Tosses Cat Out of Vehicle at Grovetown Animal Clinic! appeared first on AugustaCrime.com - Richmond, Columbia, and Aiken County Jail - Reports & Mugshots.

This lady is accused of stealing nearly $3,000 in fragrances Monday from the Ulta Beauty Supply Store in Augusta.
Authorities say she walked into the store at around 2 p.m. Monday, removing several bottles of fragrances from the shelves and fleeing the store. She got into the passenger seat of a gray, 4-door sedan being driven by an unknown white male.

The vehicle was last seen fleeing north bound on Robert C. Daniel Jr. Parkway.

Recognize her? Please help authorities by calling 706-821-1076 or 706-821-1080.

The post Woman Steals $3K in Fragrances from Augusta Ulta appeared first on AugustaCrime.com - Richmond, Columbia, and Aiken County Jail - Reports & Mugshots.

A young Augusta girl died Saturday while riding without a seat belt in a Ford Explorer that was struck by another vehicle, authorities said.

The driver of both vehicles are facing charges in the death of 4-year-old Destiny Dorsey, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

Destiny (pictured at right) was killed about 4 p.m. Saturday when the vehicle in which she was riding in was struck by another vehicle. She was an unrestrained passenger in a 1999 Ford Explorer which was traveling west on Lumpkin Road in Augusta, Coroner Mark Bowen said.  A Volvo SUV failed to stop for the stop sign on Claudia Drive  and struck the Ford Explorer.

Volvo driver Kimberly Dixon, 31, of Pineview Lane, Hephzibah, was found at fault and charged with failure to stop at a stop sign, vehicular homicide in the 2^nd degree and a violation of the learners permit. She is pictured at top.

The driver of the other vehicle was 30-year-old Jacqueline Hopkins.

She was treated for injuries at GRU Hospital and then charged with four counts of child restraint violation and vehicular homicide in the 2^nd degree, sheriff’s Lt. Allan Rollins said.

The charges against Hopkins (pictured at right in hospital gown) suggest she had four children in the vehicle without any seat belts!

The post 0 Seat Belts. 1 Stop Sign Ignored. 1 Child Dead. 2 Arrests. appeared first on AugustaCrime.com - Richmond, Columbia, and Aiken County Jail - Reports & Mugshots.

Columbia County authorities have charged a man with child molestation after he confessed to inappropriately touching his four granddaughters when they visited him, according to a sheriff’s report.

Wayne Throckmorton, 58, was charged Sunday with child molestation.

(For more crime news, pick up this week’s issue of The Jail Report, in local stores.)

The mother of the girls told authorities that the suspect had been touching her daughters. She said she and her husband were putting their children to bed Saturday night after getting home from the suspect’s home.

The mother asked her daughter what happened when her grandfather was tickling her.

“She started crying and stated she was told by Mr. W. Throckmorton she would be in trouble if she told anybody what he had done,” the sheriff’s report says.

The girl said her grandfather had touched her private parts while tickling her. The girl said he “did it all the time” to them.

The girls’ parents went to the suspect’s home to confront him, and he confessed to touching all four of his granddaughters, the report says. He said he knew what he did was wrong and that he deserved to be in jail.

Here’s what Throckhorton reportedly told an investigator when asked about the molestation: “I knew what I was doing was wrong. I did that whenever they came over.”

The post CCSO: Grandpa Confesses to Molesting Grandchildren appeared first on AugustaCrime.com - Richmond, Columbia, and Aiken County Jail - Reports & Mugshots.

Aiken County officers shot a domestic violence suspect dead on Wednesday night after returning a second time to a disturbance at the Aiken home.

Brian Gavin, 57, of 1304 Pine Drive NW, Aiken (pictured), was pronounced dead at 9:40 p.m.Wednesday at his home, Coroner Tim Carlton said.

SLED has taken over the investigation since it involves a shooting by law enforcement officers, the coroner said.

Deputies first responded to a domestic call but left when everything seemed under control, The Aiken Standard reported. Deputies did take a report but returned about an hour later after reports that two shots had been fired.

When officers arrived, they found a man pointing a firearm at the female victim, The Standard reports. At least three deputies were involved in the shooting.

The female victim was not shot and is expected to be OK, according to WRDW-TV.

An autopsy on Gavin is scheduled Thursday in Newberry, Carlton said.

NEW PRESS RELEASE FROM SHERIFF’S OFFICE:

“Around 8:31 p.m. last night, the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call from 1304 Pine Dr. NW in Aiken for a domestic situation. Deputies responded to the incident location multiple times, within twenty minutes. While deputies were still in the area they heard gunfire coming from the residence. Deputies returned to the incident location and made entry into the home.

“After gaining entry deputies encountered a male subject who was brandishing a firearm and pointing it at a female victim. Deputies ordered the subject to drop the weapon, which he refused to do. Deputies were forced to deploy their weapons. Aiken County EMS arrived on scene and pronounced the subject deceased on scene and the Aiken County Coroners was notified.

“The SC Law Enforcement Division was contacted and responded to begin an investigation of the shooting incident which is protocol for an “officer involved shooting”. The deputies who responded to the initial call were not injured.

“Sheriff Hunt stated “I stand behind the actions of our deputies. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family during this tragic time. We are working with the State Law Enforcement Division in order to show transparency and ensure that the incident is fully investigated.”

“The following agencies assisted in this incident: Aiken Department of Public Safety, Aiken County EMS, Aiken County Coroner’s Office, Aiken County Victim Services, 2nd Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office, and SLED.”

UPDATE FROM CORONER:

Note: If you have a photo of Brian Gavin, please email it to publisher@thejailreport.com or text it to 803-487-3224.

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The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, Violent Crimes Division, are currently at the Augusta Canal, near the courthouse, retrieving an unidentified deceased male from the water.

The body has been identified as Mark Anthony Ellison, 41, of the 2000 blk Old Savannah Road Augusta. He is pictured here.

The body was pulled from the canal Tuesday. It appears that Ellison had been in the canal several days. Ellison was pronounced dead at 11:45 a.m. Tuesday.

He has a series of arrests, including some where he was listed as homeless while committing the crimes.

The body will be sent to the GBI Atlanta Lab for an autopsy. The Richmond County Sheriff’s Department and the Coroner’s Office is still investigating the incident.

Note: If you have a better picture of Mark Ellison, please email it to publisher@thejailreport.com or text it to 803-487-3224.

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A Martinez babysitter driving with two young boys was drunk Saturday when she ran a red light and jumped a curb during a police chase, authorities said.

Gretchen Parker, 33, was traveling with two boys – ages 3 and 5 – when someone called 911 to complain about her driving, according to a sheriff’s report. The caller said that a Silver Kia was failing to maintain lane and almost struck the barrels in the construction zone several times.

(For more crime news, pick up this week’s Jail Report. It is sold in local convenience stores.)   

Deputies tracked Parker down on Old Evans Road as she approached the intersection with Washington Road.

“The light turned red and the Kia increased its speed and ran the red light,” the deputy wrote in a report. “The deputy activated his emergency equipment in an attempt to stop the vehicle.  The driver failed to stop for the deputy and traveled south on Bobby Jones Expressway.”

While turning on a side road, Parker struck the concrete median, causing the vehicles left rear tire to become flat, a report says.

She finally stopped at an intersection and immediately tried to exit the vehicle, stumbling around the vehicle and using the vehicle for support.

The deputy smelled alcohol on her breath and coming from the car.

“Parker had slow slurred speech and appeared to be very intoxicated,” the officer said. “When asked where she was coming from, she at one point, told us Home Depot and then she told us that she was coming from the Dollar General.  When questioned about how much she had been drinking she first told us none and then later told us about 2 or 3 drinks.”

Parker began crying when officers asked her about the boys in the vehicle. She refused to say who they belong to and then refused a Breathalyzer test.

But officers learned that Parker was babysitting the two children.  The suspect eventually gave cops the mother’s name to officers could contact her.

Officers found Parker driving with a red Solo cup in the center console. Even worse, they discovered that her driver’s license was suspended.

It turns out this was not her first DUI. Richmond County officers busted her for drunk driving in January and she pleaded guilty to the charge, earning her 24 hours in jail and a suspended license, according to court records.

The post Is Martinez Woman the Worst Babysitter Ever? appeared first on AugustaCrime.com - Richmond, Columbia, and Aiken County Jail - Reports & Mugshots.

UPDATE: William Todd Sanders was apprehended Wednesday night and is currently at the Aiken County Detention Center.

ORIGINAL STORY:
Deputies with the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office are asking for the communities help in locating 50-year-old William Todd Sanders.

Sanders is wanted for a General Sessions Bench Warrant (original charge is Trafficking Methamphetamine/Cocaine) and Removing or Circumventing Operation of an Electronic Monitoring Device. Both of these charges are the result of Sanders being out on bond and removing his court ordered electronic monitoring device on Nov. 16.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office at 803-648-6811. Individuals may also call Crimestoppers of the Midlands: 888-CRIME-SC (888-274-6372).

Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward up to $1000.

(For more crime news, pick up this week’s Jail Report. It is sold in local convenience stores.)  

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