This man and woman shoplifted a bunch of stuff from the Dollar General in Columbia County. He shoved a package of T-shirts and some boxers in his shorts and she took cans of air freshener into her purse, which was already full of merchandise.
The couple left the store without paying, rolling away in a white Chevrolet passenger vehicle.
And by the way, the woman was walking with a limp, authorities said.
Recognize them? Please call the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office at 706-541-2800.
Here’s your first look at Charles Johnson II, the Augusta man who was shot and killed Tuesday in northern Georgia after trying to drag an officer during a traffic stop.
The shooting of 29-year-old Charles Johnson II was captured on a dashboard camera in Adairsville, according to a report by AJC.com.
Authorities say the incident started when a police officer tried to stop Johnson’s vehicle at the northbound entrance to I-75 around 12:40 a.m. Tuesday.
Johnson was wanted in Richmond County for simple battery charge and the officer tried to arrest him.
Police say as the officer tried to place Johnson under arrest, the suspect tried to flee, dragging the officer along the road. The cop fired once, killing Johnson.
During the incident, the unidentified officer was run over by Johnson’s vehicle but not seriously injured.
Adairsville is located about 60 miles north of Atlanta off I-75. THE GBI is investigating the shooting.
Johnson was featured multiple times in The Jail Report. He’s was found guilty last year of child cruelty to abusing a 5-year-old boy, possibly his son, who turned up at school with serious bruises to his back. A judge sent Johnson to prison for just five months and ordered over four years of probation.
Richmond County authorities have arrested at least two young men captured on home surveillance breaking into a Wheeler Road home in Augusta.
Frank Allen Wilkins II, 19, (top photo) and Gregory Washington, 24 (bottom), have each been booked into the Richmond County Jail on charges of burglary in the first-degree of a residential property.
The victim told authorities that her home was broken into at 4:55 a.m. Wednesday, triggering an alarm and feeding the video cameras used for her home surveillance.
The thieves apparently realized they were on video, with one looking right into the camera. One of the white males covered up a security camera and a second camera, in the bedroom, was unplugged and taken.
But not before the homeowner was able to get the images and show them to law enforcement on her cell phone.
Turns out the woman’s home was ransacked and wires to the alarm were cut. The burglars stole several guns, jewelry, a large TV and an iPad, authorities said.
Authorities sent out the woman’s images to local media. Wilkins was later shown in a picture wearing the same shirt as one of the burglars.
Wilkins and Washington are being held without bond at the jail.
The escape last week of two inmates from the Grovetown Jail wasn’t the only problem Chief Gary Owens was facing at his detention facility.
A former Grovetown officer was arrested last week on a grand jury warrant for sexually assaulting a female inmate at the small 26-bed facility.
Former Officer Jon Eric Stripling, 38, was indicted on three counts of sexual assault by a person with supervisory authority and one count of violation of oath of office by a public officer. The arrest followed a year-long investigation. A grand jury arrest warrant was signed July 16 and Stripling surrendered last Wednesday.
The sexual assault allegedly occurred in April 2013 when a 31-year-old woman was being housed at the jail on charges of marijuana possession and disorderly conduct, according to Pat Morgan, GBI special agent in charge. The woman stayed there a few days and was later transferred to the Columbia County Detention Center.
“During her stay at Columbia County is when the allegation was made. Grovetown did some preliminary stuff on it … and once they did their preliminary, they contacted us and asked us if we would conduct the investigation.,” Morgan said.
The woman told authorities that the officer touched her breasts, buttocks and genital area while she was at the Grovetown jail, according to the indictment.
Grovetown officers investigated the complaint and later fired Stripling and turned the case over to the GBI.
It’s unclear if the relationship was consensual, but Morgan said an inmate cannot legally consent.
“(The charge is) sexual assault by a person over authority. Consent is not an issue and that is not a defense,” Morgan said. “That is my understanding of the law.”
Stripling is being held at the Columbia County Jail under no bond.
This week’s issue has all the arrests and mugshots from the CRSA, plus crime news, word find, jokes and dumb crook stories. Pick up your copy today.
Trash pick-up was late on Thursday for a good reason.
Workers at Augusta Disposal & Recycling in Evans arrived in the morning to discover the batteries missing from their fleet of 11 recycling trucks.
Luckily, the thieves weren’t the brightest and raised suspicions when they tried to sell the batteries to an Augusta recycler the same day, according to authorities.
Richmond County authorities notified Columbia County that they had four people trying to sell 22 batteries, and that led to the arrests of the alleged thieves:
Robert Jackson, 32 (pictured from left), Kayla Bowdoin, 21, Travis Lewis, 24, and Billy Cowart, 22, were each charged with theft by taking in connection with that theft.
Authorities say the theft ring also stole a 2002 Ford pick-up truck from the recycling center on Triangle Industrial Court.
The foursome were also linked to a theft overnight Wednesday at Westside Heating, where a truck as damaged and tools stolen from inside, authorities said.
The Jail Report has exclusive details on the accusations against a Hephzibah mother whose 2-year-old son died over the weekend.
Katherine Smith, 39, is accused of shaking Mason Smith “back and forth followed by slapping him in the face in an attempt to revive him because he has Breath Holding Syndrome,” according to documents obtained by The Jail Report.
Smith “allowed (her son) to lie on the bed while he was unresponsive for around three hours before seeking medical attention,” the document states.
Smith has been in jail since Thursday for child cruelty charges after Mason ended up in the hospital the day before. But he died Saturday from his injuries, and the mother may face new charges.
Documents show that Mason was admitted to Georgia Regents University, where medical staff said he had suffered from “retinal hemorrhaging behind both of his eyes, minimal brain activity, healing rib fractures on his right side, herniating bleed on the left side of his brain and his pupils were fixed and dilated.”
Smith claimed she put her son in the corner of his room July 30 to discipline him and heard a thud while out of the room, authorities said. She returned to find him on the floor.
Smith told officers her son has a syndrome which causes him to hold his breath until he passes out. But the injuries suggest long-term abuse.
Headlines inside this week’s Jail Report (on store shelves from Aug. 6-12):
* Lessons from Stephen A. Smith’s Stupid Comments on Abuse Victims
* Drunk Passenger Tries to Replace Drunk Driver in Aiken
* Augusta Man with Methadone & Fake Money Runs from Cops
* Teens Fire BB’s at Cars, Including ACSO Patrol Car
* North Augusta Teen Re-Arrested on Gun Charge
* Burglary Arrests Made in Aiken When Teen Girl Rolls on Her Accomplice
* Roundtree Q&A: Why Do Some Stores Refuse Alcohol Sales on Sunday?
* Rodney Quesenberry’s Last Column Talks About Phone Calls & the Most Troublesome Part of the Job
* Murder Charge? Upgraded Charges Expected for Hephzibah Mom After Autopsy of Deceased Toddler
* Armed Druggie Threatens Young Girl with Death in Augusta
* Augusta Man, 31, Jailed for Sex with Minor
* 911 Calls: Augusta Caller Claims Blood is Running Into Home from Nearby Violence
* James Brown’s Daughter is Being Held in Richmond County & Remains Wanted in Aiken County
* In Trenton, Children Removed from Home After Reported Beating
* In Grovetown, Health Professional Abuses Patient & Steals from Her
* Grovetown Man was Drunk When He Hit Car Head-On, Injuring 3 Kids
* In His Defense: Cop Impersonator Goes on TV to Defend Road Rage
ALSO IN THIS WEEK’S PAPER:
* Dumb Crook USA stories
& Jokes
* Fun with Captions
* Match the Convict to the Crime
* Cartoon
* Wanted People
* Comedy Corner
* Quote of the Week
* Word Search
After reporting the theft of her iPhone 5 and checks from her car last month, a Martinez woman got some interesting pictures on her iCloud account.
Authorities say these pictures could show the thief who committed this crime or a group of people who may be friends with the thief. The victim’s car was broken into July 11.
If you recognize them or know who took these pictures, please call the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office at 706-541-2800.
Sneak Peak of This Week’s Jail Report:
http://augustacrime.com/sneak-peak-this-weeks-jail-report/
Would you have your teenage son arrested if he stole from you?
An Evans mom did.
The victim told authorities that 17-year-old Cael Greene admitted taking two rings and a necklace from her bedroom this week. They were each valued at $2,000 each.
The teen told authorities that “he did take the items but be did not sell them.” He claims the jewelry was in his pants pocket when he went to bed Tuesday night, but when he woke up Wednesday, they were missing. He said three other people were visiting his house and may have taken the jewelry.
The teen was charged Wednesday with theft by taking and remains in the Columbia County Jail.
What would you do if you looked at your boyfriend’s cell phone and found a video of him getting oral sex from your teenage daughter?
This happened in Hephzibah, and the 36-year-old girlfriend confronted her boyfriend Tuesday about the sexual assault on her 15-year-old daughter.
The boyfriend simply grabbed his phone and left the home.
But that wasn’t the end of it. The girlfriend called the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, and an investigation led to Wednesday’s arrest of 47-year-old Nigel Dalbert of Waynesboro for aggravated child molestation.
Dalbert remains in jail at this hour under no bond.
A 5-year-old boy accidentally left his PlayStation Portable game system on a shelf while his father checked out at the Grovetown Walmart.
And the guy in the sleeveless shirt was seen on surveillance video taking the game system, authorities say. (The guy in the beard was with him.)
Know who they are? Please call the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office at 706-541-2800.
As you probably know by now, it is a crime to take property that is not yours, even if you find it abandoned.
A Burnettown officer was injured Thursday while tackling a suspect who tried to escape custody in an Aiken County courtroom, authorities said.
Christopher Salas, 35, was tackled inside a Burnettown court and taken into custody. A judge had just sentenced the registered sex offender to jail time for staying in the Langley Pond Park after sunset with a 17-year-old girl. Now Salas faces more serious charges of escape and resisting arrest.
Burnettown Police Chief David Smith said the officer will be OK, but he was injured during the scuffle.
“They tackled him, and the tackle went through three rows of chairs,” the chief said. “When they hit the floor, the officer ended up on the bottom.”
Salas(left) and 17-year-old Destiny Ferguson (right), both of Warrenville, were caught at the park after sunset, and both were arrested. In court Thursday, the girl’s mother testified before sentencing that the family is trying to keep Destiny away from the older man, but she sees Salas as a boyfriend. Salas is a sex offender, convicted in 2006 of attempted or lewd act on a child.
On Thursday, a judge heard the testimony and sentenced both Salas and Destiny to 30 days in the county jail and a $55 fine. That is reportedly when Salas tried to run out of the courtroom.
Chief Smith said his agency has been cracking down on people who go into the park when it is closed.
“We are experiencing a lot of vandalism,” he said. “All of our parks close at sunset. If we catch anybody in there, then we charge them, especially if they have been warned before.”
In addition to vandalism, officers want the pond to remain safe, Chief Smith said.
“We’ve had a few drowning fatalities. Kids will go out there in the middle of the night and swim. Doing that at your pool is one thing, but doing that in the middle of the night in one of the largest ponds in the area with no one around, we just don’t want that. We don’t want anyone hurt.”
Police say it was a hoax.
A domesticated mountain lion was reported missing early Sunday morning from a business on Richland Avenue West in Aiken, but it turned out to be false. And now, the investigation turns criminal with a possibility of charges for filing a false police report.
Officers say they responded to Aquarium Pets and were notified that a pet mountain lion was missing from the location, police said. But after spending hours on the lookout and after media plastered the story all over the Internet and TV, police learned the owner had not told the truth.
Stay tuned for updates…
Investigators with the Aiken Department of Public Safety have issued an arrest warrant for 55-year-old Billy J. Lunsford, of North Augusta for Providing False Information to a Public Safety Officer.
Mr. Lunsford’s charges stem from the his allegations that a three foot, 100 pound mountain lion had escaped Sunday from the Aquarium Pet Store on Richland Avenue West in Aiken.
Lunsford advised officers that a black mountain lion was missing from Aquarium Pets. Investigators have determined that this statement was not true and that no mountain lion was ever inside the business, according to a press release.
Lunsford is believed to be in the Breezy Hill or Graniteville area.
Anyone with information which may lead to the arrest of Billy J. Lunsford is asked to contact the Aiken Department of Public Safety at 803-642-7620 or contact Crimestoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC. You can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward of up to $1,000.
Billy Lunsford is in custody tonight.
He’s the guy accused of making up the story of the missing mountain lion in Aiken.
Lunsford, 55, of North Augusta, has been charged with providing false info to police, a misdemeanor.
His false report of a missing mountain lion caused a major panic in Aiken on Sunday as police and state officials scrambled to locate the missing animal. Lunsford said the animal was missing from an Aiken pet store, but it turned out to be a hoax, police said.
A motive is unclear.
It’s not a great picture, but this image shows a man and his vehicle suspected in the theft of fiber optic testing equipment early Tuesday from the bed of a pickup truck.
The theft occurred at the Howard Johnson motel at 4045 Jimmie Dyess Parkway around 3:15 a.m. Tuesday. The equipment is valued at approximately $100,000, according to Columbia County authorities.
The vehicle appears to be a 2011–2014 Dodge Journey, shown above right for comparison. Know anything about this expensive theft? Please call the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office at 706-541-2800.
Early Wednesday morning, North Augusta Public Safety Officers successfully located and served multiple outstanding arrest warrants in and around the city. The Aiken County Sheriff’s Office and the SLED Fusion center assisted with this morning’s operation. The following is a list of those that were located and their charges.
* Latoya Chambers, 28, of North Augusta, Disorderly Conduct
* Bridget Sherlock, 30, North Augusta, Commitment Warrant Driving Under Suspension
* Johnnie Dingler, 57 of North Augusta, Commitment Warrant Driving Under Suspension
* Jorge Garcia, 33, of North Augusta, Commitment Warrant Business License Requirement, Commitment Warrant Unsightly Proper
* Angelique Grant, 20, of North Augusta, Commitment Warrant Assault & Battery 3rd Degree
* Sandra Stevens, 44, of North Augusta, Commitment Warrant Driving Under Suspension
* Lanelle Wise, 44, of North Augusta, Commitment Warrant Driving Under Suspension
* Lawrence Hallman, 45, of North Augusta, Disorderly Conduct
* Ladevarian Veal, 28, of North Augusta, Criminal Domestic Violence
North Augusta police say they strongly encourage anyone that has an outstanding warrant to turn themselves in.
An undercover officer in Columbia County helped nail an Alabama optometrist for a sex crime by posing as an underage girl on a smart phone app, according to authorities.
Jeremy Burns, 38, of Birmingham, Ala., was allegedly trying to arrange a sexual relationship with an underage girl while using a popular social networking smart phone app, according to GBI authorities. Burns allegedly traveled from Alabama to meet the “underage girl” Aug. 7 when he was actually meeting an undercover officer in Lamar County, Ga., said GBI Agent D. Garner.
Because the cop was working locally and the Internet crime occurred here, Burns was brought to Columbia County Jail on Monday on charges through the Computer Pornography and Child Exploitation Prevention Act of 1999.
The bust was a result of a 4-month proactive investigation using a popular social networking smart phone app. GBI officials declined to reveal the name of the app since they are trying to build more cases against people who use it for criminal purposes.
An unidentified Columbia County officer who helped make the arrest is a member of GBI’s Child Exploitation and Computer Crimes Unit.
Court documents list Burns as an optometrist for Eagle Vision Eyecare in Bessemer, Alabama. He remains free on bond and did not answer a phone call to his business.
A Martinez man was shot to death outside a local church Thursday night by a Florida man who wanted his car, authorities said.
Bill Davitte, 55, was shot to death, and his wife, Jennifer, suffered head injuries in the attack outside Marvin United Methodist Church. The couple was at the church to turn on the sprinkler system when the attack occurred. Mrs. Davitte was treated and released from GRU Hospital.
Daniel Nelson Robinson, 21, was captured in Jacksonville after leading authorities on a high-speed chase along I-95.
The suspect is a repeat offender with a history of violence and at least seven previous arrests.
Columbia County has sent four investigators to Florida to follow-up on the murder and process the vehicle. The slaying is Columbia County’s first homicide of the 2014.
Photo of Bill and Jennifer Davitte;
https://www.facebook.com/thejailreport/photos/a.373077023158.157653.372777548158/10152504283778159/?type=1&theater