From Bryan County Sheriff ’s Office reports: 

Accidental shooting: Deputies were dispatched to an Ellabell address May 2 “for a wife that accidentally shot her husband in the back” while trying to do the laundry.

The woman “stated she picked up her husband’s pants off the table from last night and was going to the laundry room to wash them,” the report said. “A small .22 North American revolver fell out of her husband’s pocket while she was passing behind him sitting in his recliner. The gun hit the floor and accidentally discharged. A .22 caliber bullet came out of the gun and struck (her husband) in the right lower part of his back. EMS was called and (the man) was transported to Memorial Hospital for treatment.”

A BCSO investigator was called in. There was no word on the man’s condition.

Criminal trespass: This one is interesting. A deputy responded May 2 to a Highway 144 address and was told by the complainant that “last night his neighbor … came into his front yard and took a curly maple log. I spoke to (the neighbor), he stated he did take the log, but the tree came from his property and landed on (the complainant’s) property.”

The deputy “advised the (neighbor) not to take anymore logs off of (the complainant’s) property ever again.” He also explained warrant procedures to the complainant.

Noise complaint: A deputy was sent to a Richmond Hill address around 1 p.m. April 27 regarding a complainant who said “his neighbor wakes him up in the morning with loud sounding pipes when starting his car.”

The complainant said the man doesn’t rev the engine but it has a loud start. The man said he hadn’t spoken to the neighbor and his HOA told him to make a report. He also said he printed out some state laws he believes the neighbor is violating.

Another neighbor was asked how loud “she considered the car to be on a scale of 1-10 and she stated about a 5 or 6. While talking to the neighbor one of the owners of the car came outside the residence and offered to crank up the car for us to hear. She stated that it is her husband’s car and as of now he is driving her vehicle to work to eliminate some of the noise every day.”

The deputy “advised the wife that if her husband does drive to go in the opposite direction and not by the complainant’s residence.”

Animal complaint: Deputies were sent to the Dunham Marsh pool April 30 regarding a dog locked in a car. The complainant was worried about the dog’s wellbeing. As a deputy was headed to handle the car he was told Bryan County Fire and Emergency Services had already gotten the dog out of the car. Efforts to find out who owned the car and the dog were eventually successful, and they said “they were unaware the dog was in the vehicle,” which was being driven by a family member.

Damaged vehicle: A deputy responded about 3 p.m. May 3 to a call regarding a damaged vehicle on I-16 near mile marker 144 and when he arrived met a woman who said “she was traveling behind a semi truck and was not able to see a large tractor trailer tire in the road.”

The woman ran over the tire, damaging the front bumper and grill of her 2019 Dodge Challenger.

What’s more, while the deputy was putting together his report he found the woman was “a wanted person out of Tattnall County.” She was arrested, etc.

Meth possession: This one is sort of cryptic, but “on Thursday, April 29, 2021, at approximately 10 p.m.,” a narcotics investigator was asked by BCSO to “assist with a narcotics investigation at the Motor Carrier Compliance Division scale located on I-16 west.”
The narcotics investigator reported Georgia State Patrol “located a large amount of narcotics within a vehicle while assisting MCCD with an impaired driving enforcement check.”

 The report said a 30-year-old woman from Helena, Ga., was arrested for trafficking and possession of meth.

Possession of illegal drugs: A 29-year-old East Dublin woman was arrested around 10:30 p.m. April 29 and charged with drug possession after an investigation at the MCCD truck weigh scales on I-16 in Ellabell. The report said a GSP trooper “recovered a quantity of suspected ecstasy, marijuana “and an unknown substance from a driver of a vehicle that came through the scales.”

Multiple drug charges: A 25-year-old Rincon woman and a 19-year-old Ellabell woman were arrested May 4 on multiple drug charges. There was no more information available in the report.

Unruly juvenile: A deputy responded to a Highway 204 address on May 4 in reference to a runaway juvenile.

Suspended license, more: A Savannah man involved in a minor traffic accident around 7 a.m. May 4 at Highway 144 and Fort McAllister was arrested after it was learned he had a suspended license and was wanted for violating his probation in Lauren’s County. He was charged with driving on a suspended license and failure to yield as well. His car was left for his girlfriend to pick up.

 Simple battery: Deputies were called around 6:30 p.m. May 4 to a Richmond Hill address regarding “a verbal dispute that had gotten slightly physical before our arrival.”
The complainant said he and his son were discussing pizza when they got into an argument over whether he’d transferred money into his son’s account, and that led to the dispute. Deputies spoke to the son, who apologized. The father didn’t want to press charges.

Harassment: An Ellabell woman reported May 3 that her separated husband and his mother “rode by the house she is currently staying at and yelled out profanity and degrading words towards her.” The woman said her son and her aunt’s kids were outside at the time and saw what happened. She was given a case number. She asked about a temporary protective order and was referred to the courts.

Suspicious acts: Deputies were sent to a Richmond Hill address around 7:20 pm. May 3 “in reference to a suspicious person with a gun. The call was made to 911 by the residents’ estranged mother who lives in North Carolina and has made several of these type calls in the past,” the report said. “Everything was fine at the residence and they said they would call the mother and talk to her about stopping.”

Suspicious activity: A Richmond Hill woman reported around 12:13 a.m. May 4 “they saw what appeared to be someone with a flashlight in their back yard and shining it around. Upon deputies arrival a search of the property was conducted with negative contact with anyone out there.”

Suspicious activity; An Ellabell man reported May 2 that a man had come to a hunt club claiming he owned two RVS and a ATV on the property and was coming to get them back. The man had keys he use to try and get into the campers before he was asked to leave. The man claimed he was a member of the hunt club and left before deputies arrived in a red Ford pickup.

Editor’s note: Similar reports of a man claiming to own homes and vehicles appeared in recent BCSO blotters. The name of the man in those reports was the same as that of the man in this one.

Harassment: A Pembroke woman reported May 4 that she’s having problems with her ex-boyfriend. She told deputies he “refuses to leave her alone, and keeps texting her and cussing at her and has thrown trash out in her yard.”
The woman said she’s concerned for her safety. She was told to call when he returns and deputies can serve him with a criminal trespass notice. She was also told she could seek a temporary protective order from magistrate court.

Criminal damage to property: A deputy was asked May 1 to help move an inmate at Bryan County Jail from one cell to another because he damaged a TV and its remote.  He told the deputy he did so because the other “inmates would not allow him to watch a television program that he wished to watch.” After being moved to d different cell, “he then attempted to flood the cell by utilizing toilet paper and running water. After the jail staff shut off the water to the cell (he) was being housed in, (he) then attempted to damage the holding cell’s camera.” 

Burglary: A Pembroke man reported April 30 some of his property had been stolen. The man said he recently bought the home and is renovating it and nobody lives there, and when he came to check it he found items missing from his shed and carport valued at around $3,918.

Theft, property damage: An Ellabell woman reported May 1 she two friends she’d let stay with her may have ripped her off.

The woman said she let them stay at her home because they “had fell on hard times,” and lived with her for about two months “and paid very little with regard to rent or groceries.”
The woman said she they agreed to leave, and the man “had gained employment in New York and needed to move anyway.” The woman said she had already planned a vacation in Florida and told the two they needed to “be out of the residence by the time she left for vacation,” on April 27.

The woman has interior cameras in her home she can monitor on her cell phone, “and a few days into her vacation she could see that (the two) were still at her residence. (She texted the man) as to why they were still on her property and a short time later all the cameras went dark.”
When the woman got back home May 1 she “discovered that all the interior cameras had been stolen as well as a smart thermostat and two televisions.” She assumed the two are responsible for the theft, the report said.

DUI: A Bloomingdale man was arrested April 30 for suspended license, DUI, obstruction, speeding and open container after he was clocked doing 79 in a 45 mph zone on Highway 17 south. While trying to pull the man over “the vehicle sped up and was all over the roadway hitting the lines several times and driving very aggressively,” the report said, noting the man stopped at a local business parking lot, got out with a drink in his hand and ran inside the building. The deputy went after him but found the door locked. After more deputies arrived the man came out with his hands up and surrendered. An open, half empty bottle of Crown Royal was found in the front driver seat.

Mental patient: Deputies went to a Richmond Hill address May 2 to talk to a woman who was mentally unstable. EMS and firefighters were also there. Complainant said the woman, her mother, was visiting and hadn’t been taking her medications and was up all night talking to herself, “lashing out” and scaring her kids. The woman was checked out by EMS and refused a ride to the hospital. The daughter was told how to get a court order through the magistrate court to get help for the mother.

 Property dispute: A Richmond Hill man reported May 2 he moved into the home two weeks ago “and has “been having issues with his neighbors,” who “are on his property line planting a garden, plants, shrubs.” The man said he’d tried to talk to them “in a civil matter but the son became verbal yesterday.” He said he was going to contact planning and zoning to resolve the issue.

The neighbors said their “previous neighbor of 16 years where (complainant) resides did not mind them planting their own things alongside the property,” and the new neighbor at first didn’t mind but changed his mind. One of the neighbors said they will have a survey come out to determine “where each homeowner property line begins and ends.” The complainant and the neighbors were told not to “add or take away from the garden or plants until there is a determining factor from zoning and magistrate officials,” and both were given case cards.

Burglary: A North Bryan man reported May 2 his power washer was stolen out of his locked shed. He suspected a relative who lives somewhere in Bulloch County.

DUI drugs, speeding, etc: A Florida man was arrested May 1 after he was clocked doing 87 mph south on I-95 near the 82 mile marker and the deputy smelled marijuana. The man then failed a DUI field test, a report said. The man was also charged with driving without a license and possession of drug related objects.

 Damage to boat: A Statesboro man reported May 1 he pulled his boat up to the dock at Fish Tales Marina about 1 p.m. and went inside to eat. “Once (he) returned back to his boat it was completely submerged in water. He believed the waves and the current was too high for his (18-foot) boat to sustain. With the help of the other boat owners (he) was able to take his boat from the location.”

 Overdose: Deputies were sent to a South Bryan address April 30 regarding a “44-year old male, unresponsive, but breathing, who has been crushing pills and snorting them.” The man’s 67-year-old mother said earlier when she went to check on him in his room she found the door barricaded and he was unconscious on the floor. Deputies found the man unconscious with pills around him that are used for nerve pain. The man was eventually revived and refused a trip to the hospital. His mother “also advised (the deputy) that (her son) had overtaken a liquid anxiety medication that her ordered online from Canada,” and her other son would be able to tell what it was. She was given a case card and advised to see the probate judge about her son.

 Threats: An Ellabell man reported April 30 he manages a restaurant in Savannah and had to fire an employee the day before, and the employee started texting threatening messages to him.

Property line dispute: A Highway 144 resident reported May 1 her neighbors were cutting grass on her side of the property line. It was an ongoing situation, she said, and she had reported it to code enforcement.

Unwanted person: A Richmond Hill woman reported April 27 her ex boyfriend came by her parent’s home unannounced to get his belongings on their property. The deputy spoke with the ex, “who stated he was only there to get 2 vehicles, 2 tractors and a lawnmower,” and was allowed to do so over a two-day period. The woman was also advised to have the man banned from her parent’s property and given a case number.