Dawne Thompson asked her 15-year-old son to wash the dishes on Mother’s Day.

The son, being a teenager, fell asleep.

He was rudely awakened by his drunken mother beating him with a cable cord, which left him with numerous welts and scratches, according to a Columbia County sheriff’s report.

The teen said Thompson threw his belongs into the hallway, grabbed a pair of scissors and began cutting his hair. When he tried to take the scissors from her, he was stabbed in the hand. He ran from the house and to a neighbor’s to call 911, the report said.

When an officer arrived, it took him several attempts to get Thompson to answer the door. She was in the house with her 4-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son, the report said.

Thompson, 31, of Diamond Ridge Way, Evans, was charged with cruelty to children – causing excessive physical or mental pain and two counts of cruelty to children 3rd degree, the report said.

The children were turned over to a family member.

Thompson is the same mom charged in March with DUI.

Austin Keller stopped a classmate in the halls of Harlem High School on Tuesday and told him he wanted to talk to him about a girl.

In fact, the 17-year-old put his hand on the classmate’s chest. Keller asked the other teen to put down his backpack and talk. The classmate refused.

So Keller – 5’10″, 240 pounds, and much bigger – began punching the classmate in the face with both fists, according to a Columbia County Sheriff’s report. When Principal Dietmar Perez saw the assault and pulled Keller off the classmate, Keller gave the boy an explosive kick to the face!

The 18-year-old victim sustained bruises to the left and right of his face as well as a swollen lip and cut to the left side of his nose.

The assault was serious enough the deputies filed charges of battery and disrupting public schools against Keller, a report says.

Keller acted innocent when questioned, saying he just wanted to talk to the victim “about a girl in the school who made a complaint about him,” a report says.

The victim was treated by the school nurse and Keller was taken to jail and suspended from school.

An Augusta man who bragged about having sex with 14-year-old girl was recorded by two men admitting to the sex act, authorities said.

Colton Watkins, 22, allegedly asked a Hephzibah Middle School girl to have sex while she was at his home at 2 a.m. April 8. She said yes and then she stayed the night afterward, according to a Richmond County Sheriff’s Office report.

The next day, Watkins left for work, and then the girl heard Watkins was at the Lock and Dam boasting of the sexual encounter to two men.

“They recorded the listed suspect stating that he had sex with the victim,” a report says.

Ironically, Watkins called up the girl’s father and begged him not to believe the stories circulating about him having sex with his daughter. “It was not true,” Watkins said.

But the recording was all investigators needed. Watkins was charged Tuesday with statutory rape without force. He has since been released on bond.

Who are these robbers?

The two men terrorized an Aiken County store owner Thursday morning, putting the victim face down and promising "We are going to kill you! We are going to kill you!"

Authorities say the robbers entered the Minit Shop (2345 Augusta Road, Gloverville) at 7:03 am Thursday.  One of the robbers wore camouflage and was seen getting out of a tan or gray Ford Explorer with a paper tag.

"The victim said that one of the suspects who was wearing a mask and armed with a handgun, held the weapon to his head and demanded money," sheriff's Capt. Eric Abdullah said. "The other suspect was described wearing a green shirt and pants, who was the driver of the vehicle."

The suspects fled the area towards Burnettown on Augusta Road in their vehicle with an undetermined amount of money.

Know anything? Call 803-648-6811 or Crime Stoppers at 888-274-6372.

Here’s the Hephzibah guy caught with 70 marijuana plants and 20 pounds of dried marijuana at his house on Thursday, police say.

Someone snitched on 64-year-old Robert Ray Fultz of 3809 Fairington Drive in Hephzibah. Now he’s been charged with manufacturing marijuana, trafficking marijuana near a school zone (Deer Chase Elementary School) and weapon possession.

He’s being held without bond at the Richmond County Jail.

Investigators found new evidence that suggested Robin Herndon intended to kill her live-in boyfriend Nov. 6 at their North Augusta home.

Herndon, a former probation officer and SLED agent, is now facing serious prison time after a grand jury upgraded charges from voluntary manslaughter to murder in the shooting death of Christopher Rowley.

Herndon had an initial appearance on Tuesday, where her bond amount was amended and she was allowed to go free pending trial.

After the shooting occurred on Nov. 6, 2013, officers found Herndon standing on the porch of her home and Rowley sitting in a chair. Blood was on both of them and all over the porch.

Herndon was “attempting to administer CPR to victim by pressing on his chest and giving rescue breaths,” a sheriff’s report says.

Authorities say the 31-year-old victim was shot in the neck during a domestic argument inside the home at 721 Sudlow Lake Road.

Rowley, well known to friends as “Crispy,” was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at GRU Shock Trauma.

Herndon was taken to ACSO headquarters and later charged with voluntary manslaughter.

According to S.C. Code §16-3-50, voluntary manslaughter involves the “act of killing with malice aforethought and/or under the circumstances of provocation.”

However, ACSO investigators uncovered new evidence after the shooting that led Special Prosecutor Glenn Justis to seek a murder indictment last week. A grand jury heard the evidence and said the killing appears to have been intentional and with malice,” a key factor in a murder charge.

Solicitor Strom Thurmond Jr. passed the case to the S.C. Attorney General’s Office because of his office’s long-standing working relationship with Herndon as a probation agent.  The case was re-assigned to the 1st Circuit, where Justis was given the case.

An Augusta man is in custody on murder charges after he allegedly beat his roommate to death with a baseball bat and concealed the body for five days, authorities said.

Altaye Knight, 21, of North Barton Drive, Augusta, is charged with murder in connection with the death of 27-year-old Damon Terrell Prymus.

Authorities say Knight struck the victim in his head and face with a baseball bat following an argument Saturday inside their home at 1810 North Barton Drive. He then concealed the body, but investigators were reportedly made aware of the death this morning.

“Shortly before 6 pm (Wednesday), the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office and Hephzibah Police Department responded to a body that had been found in a field off of Williams Drive in Hephzibah,” sheriff’s Sgt. Glen Rahn said.

Knight is now in custody and being booked for murder. He has not been formally booked. The mugshot shown here is from a previous arrest for drugs.

An Aiken County man was taken from the hospital to jail on Memorial Day and charged with the drunk-driving death of his wife on Saturday, authorities said.

Michael Williams Sr., a 49-year-old Windsor man with a previous DUI arrest and a suspended license, is accused of causing the wreck that killed his wife.

Williams was on East Frontage Road near Wire Road when he crossed the eastbound lane in a curve, left the roadway and overturned several times.

“The wife of the driver and only passenger, 55-year-old Kim M. Williams, was pronounced dead at the scene due to multiple body trauma,” Aiken County Coroner Tim Carlton said in a press release. “She was wearing her seat belt.”

Excessive speed and alcohol use are suspected factors in the crash, the coroner said.

Mr. Williams was transported from the scene by Aiken County EMS to Lexington Hospital  with serious injuries. He was released Saturday morning and taken to the Aiken County Jail.

Mr. Williams is charged with driving under the influence causing death, driving under suspension, unsafe tires and open container of alcohol in vehicle. He has a previous arrest for DUI, driving under suspension and for driving with no license.

Richmond County investigators are hunting a killer after finding a shooting victim lying face down just after midnight Wednesday on the 2100 block of 2nd Avenue in Augusta.

According to sheriff’s Sgt. Michael Shane McDaniel Sr., the male victim suffered two gunshot wounds to the chest and was rushed to Georgia Regents University, where he died.

“There is no suspect information at this time,” Sgt. McDaniel said in a press release. “The name of the deceased is being withheld pending the notification of the next of kin. Further details will be forthcoming when available.”

The man found laying face down early Wednesday on 2nd Avenue in Augusta was once accused of being the trigger man in a Cherry Tree Crossing murder, but a jury found him not guilty.

Curtis Lemont Carter, 22, (pictured) was shot twice in the chest just after midnight Wednesday and died at GRU Hospital. No suspects have been named.

Carter had a history of gun violence and physical violence in Richmond County. In fact, he was just released from prison in September after serving 14 months of a 3-year sentence for aggravated battery.

But a 2010 murder charge against him resulted in a not-guilty verdict.

In that case, investigators had named him as the triggerman in a March 2010 shooting at Cherry Tree Crossing Apartments. The victim, 40-year-old Scotty Mathis, declared Carter was the shooter just before his death at an Augusta Hospital, but no witnesses came forward to support that, according to newspaper accounts.

During a 2012 trial, a defense attorney argued that Mathis had a blood alcohol level of 0.21 at the time of his death and traces of cocaine and marijuana in his system. In addition, witnesses said Mathis was there with another man to buy drugs.

No one claimed to see a shooter, but shoeprints near the area of the shooting seemed to match those belonging to Carter. According to newspaper accounts, Carter also made a statement to authorities that he had “messed up” and was going to prison. Unfortunately, the comment was not caught on tape.

A jury found Carter not guilty.

Since that murder, Carter was convicted of aggravated battery and sent to prison. He also had convictions for assault, reckless conduct and firing a gun near a public road.

A Grovetown mom was arrested this week for using an automotive fan belt to beat her two sons, causing serious injuries, authorities said.

Felicia Gilmore, 28, of Pauline Street, was charged Wednesday with two counts of cruelty to children and causing excessive physical or mental pain.

A Columbia County officer was made aware of the beatings and talked to the woman’s 13-year-old son, who said his mother had “beat him with an automotive fan belt,” a sheriff’s report says. The teen was found with excessive lacerations to his left arm, upper and lower back.  The 9-year-old son was found with swelling on his upper and lower leg, both arms and his back.

“The marks on both juveniles were found to have left a pattern from the fan belt,” a sheriff’s report says.

Officers notified DFACS officials and called for an ambulance to take the children to GRU Hospital. A DFACS employee “went over a safety plan with Ms. Gilmore and her live-in boyfriend,” a report says. “(The boys) will be staying with other relatives temporarily.”

This guy had an interesting scam. He took a stolen ATM/debit card and deposited counterfeit checks into the victim’s account before withdrawing real money back out. The victim and bank lost close to $3,000 in the fraud.

Do you recognize him? He used the victim’s card in North Augusta and in Richmond County.  It appears that he may be driving the white Pontiac.

If you recognize him, please call North Augusta Investigator Chris Toole at 803-441-4217.

This lady used a stolen credit card Wednesday to make a large purchase at the Sonoco Gas Station at 2013 Walton Way in Augusta. Also, she used other stolen credit cards taken from vehicles at Burger King on Walton Way.

Anyone with information about this female is asked to contact the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office Fraud Division at 706-821-1020 or Investigator Bert Gates at 706-821-1059.

Venisha Brown, the troubled daughter of the late soul singer James Brown, was stabbed on Telfair Street around lunchtime Friday, authorities said.

Venisha Brown, of Parkway Drive, told deputies that she had been riding with an acquaintance known only as “David’ while attending to some errands, according to sheriff’s Sgt. Michael Shane McDaniel Sr.

“Brown had promised David some money for gas and upon arrival on Telfair Street had given David some cash,” McDaniel said. “A dispute ensued over the amount, at which time David produced a small pocket knife and slashed at Brown several times while trying to obtain additional cash from her pockets. A nearby residence attempted to assist Brown, but was also menaced with the knife, but not injured.”

Venisha Brown sustained cuts to both arms which were not life threatening and an additional amount of cash was taken. David fled the scene in an older-model Green Ford Extended cab Pickup Truck with a possible SC tag and tinted windows.

David is described as a black male, about 40 years old, 6’1″ tall, 180 pounds, dark complexion, bald or shaved head, no facial hair.

The vehicle was last seen driving west towards the downtown business district from Old Towne.

Anyone with information on this case should contact RCSO CID at 706-821-1020 or Dispatch at 706-821-1080.

HISTORY OF TROUBLES:

Venisha Brown was arrested on April 1, marking her 24th arrest in Augusta since 1997.

Brown, 49, of Parkway Drive, Augusta, was arrested on a warrant for order to show cause in Superior Court.

Her probation officer took out the warrant, meaning she is being accused of violating the terms of her probation, according to authorities.

Brown was released from prison Feb. 22 after her 5-year prison sentence for theft was commuted upon service of 12 months. She was sentenced in 2012 for stealing a car from St. Stephen Ministries in Augusta where she worked. Authorities say she injured her boss outside a bank when the boss tried to get the car back, authorities said.

Brown is well-known to Augusta law enforcement officers with two dozen arrests in the last 17 years, including charges for theft by taking, theft by receiving stolen property, pointing a firearm at another person, failure to appear in court, giving false name to police, probation violation, order to show cause and bench warrants.

As part of her five-year prison sentence for theft in 2012, she was ordered to complete a residential substance abuse treatment program.

On March 31, her probation officer sought a warrant for her arrest.

James Brown had numerous children and acknowledged nine of them during his life, including five sons – Teddy, Terry, Larry, Daryl and James Joseph Brown II and four daughters – Lisa, Dr. Yamma Noyola Brown Lumar, Deanna Brown Thomas and Venisha Brown.

A professor at Georgia Regents University has been arrested for a hit & run that injured a Beasley Broadcasting employee.

Edgar Rideout, a GRU communications professor, was charged Friday with hit & run and following too closely, according to the website for the Columbia County Detention Center.

The Jail Report has learned that Rideout  was in a BMW and reportedly rear-ended a car driven by resident Troy Bradley and then kept going. Bradley, who is a musical director, producer and DJ for Beasley Broadcasting and assistant for The Austin Rhodes Show on WGAC-AM, suffered minor injuries in the wreck.

Rideout, 49, was released Friday after posting $2,200 bond. A GRU website identifies Rideout as a limited-term faculty member who teaches two classes, including “Fundamentals of Human Communication.”

Four people were arrested Wednesday night when Columbia County officers executed a search warrant at 4752 Mahoney Drive in Evans.

In one bedroom, they found 28.35 grams of marijuana and schedule 2 pills, sheriff’s Capt. Steve Morris said. In another bedroom, a marijuana grow was found in a closet with a security system. Holly Colbert was found to be in possession of marijuana, schedule 2 and schedule 4 pills.

“The shed in the backyard was searched and 848.95 grams of marijuana was found concealed in a boat and walls of the shed with approximately $45,000,” Capt. Morris said.

Storm Houk was charged with Possession of Marijuana with Intent, Possession of Schedule 2 Drug.

Holly Colbert was charged with Possession of Marijuana, Possession of Schedule 2 and 4 Drugs.

Blaze Houk (pictured) was charged with Possession of Marijuana with Intent.

Duane Houk was charged with Manufacturing Marijuana and Possession of Marijuana with Intent. (Mugshots were not available for all suspects)

Link to more mugs: https://www.facebook.com/thejailreport/photos/a.373077023158.157653.372777548158/10152321235768159/?type=1&theater

Want to help cops find a real scumbag?

This guy is accused of stealing the tip jar from Mary’s Grooming on May 31. But cops don’t know who he is.

A manager of the Martinez business said this man asked an employee if he could speak with the owner. The employee walked to another room and left the subject by himself in the reception area. That’s when the jerk took the tip jar and rushed out the front door. It contained about $50 in tips.

The thief was wearing a blue shirt with black stripes and gray sweat pants. He was driving a gold Chrysler PT Cruiser.

Know who he might be? Please call the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office at 706-541-2800.

A day after he tried to kiss a woman’s feet outside a Grovetown restaurant, a notorious sex offender with a foot fetish was locked up in Aiken County on unrelated charges.

Joey Leaphart, 45, was arrested Friday for violating the S.C. Sex Offender Registry law. He remained in jail Monday on a $2,130 bond.

The arrest came one day after a woman reported that Leaphart asked to kiss her feet in the parking lot of a Grovetown restaurant. The 42-year-old woman said the man claimed he was from Atlanta and came to Grovetown for a funeral but had lost his wallet and needed gas money to return home.  The woman and her friend gave him money, and the suspect asked if he could kiss her feet.

“He told her it might bring her good luck, because he had kissed his wife`s feet, and she had won a thousand dollars right after that,” a sheriff’s report says.

The woman felt uncomfortable, closed her car door and drove away with her friend. The woman got home and looked Leaphart up on the Crime Stoppers website, and recognized him as the same man who had kissed women`s feet in the Walmart store some time back, a report says.

Leaphart is a registered sex offender in Aiken County after serving five years in prison for licking an 11-year-old’s toes. He was charged with lewd acts to a minor. He also pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in 2012 after repeatedly asking women for money in a North Augusta shopping center.

Last year, he was charged with assault after deputies say he rubbed a woman’s leg in a checkout line at the Walmart in Aiken. About two years ago, a woman also had a run-in with Leaphart at the Grovetown Walmart.

In last Thursday’s incident, Columbia County investigators are still looking to see if a criminal charge would apply since he never touched the women’s feet, Capt. Morris said.

In April, Columbia County took the pro-active step of posting Leaphart’s photo on their Facebook page with this warning:

“Please be aware of this man! His name is JOEY WILLIAM LEAPHART. He is a registered Sex Offender in South Carolina. He approaches women in businesses and parking lots in the Martinez/Evans area asking for money. Once he makes contact, he asks the women if he can kiss their feet, with the intention of sucking on their toes. If you have any similar contact with this individual, please contact the Sheriff’s Office at 706-541-2800.”

Here’s the cover image of this week’s Jail Report.

Pick up your copy from convenience stores throughout the Augusta-Aiken area.

Aiken Public Safety investigators arrested Marion Lonnelle Pope on Thursday in connection with the April 22nd shooting spree at Hahn Village in Aiken.

Pope, 30, of Aiken, was charged with three counts of assault and battery 1st degree.

He is accused of shooting at multiple individuals during a disturbance, but no one was struck during the incident. An employee with Aiken Housing Authority said he heard 8-10 shots fired near Collins Avenue, and the gunfire struck a woman’s apartment.

Police arrested Pope Thursday in Graniteville at Kalmia Apartments, where he tried to flee out the back door of an apartment and then fought with officers before being struck with a Taser and placed into custody.

In making the arrest, the Aiken Department of Public Safety was assisted by Aiken County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) RAGE (Regional Anti-Gang Enforcement) Unit.