From Bryan County Sheriff’s Office reports:

Matter of record: Deputies responded April 22 to a report of a suspicious male carrying an assault rifle at Fort McAllister State Park.  

The description provided by dispatch was of “a male wearing blue jeans, a navy blue t-shirt, a camo vest, and a military camo helmet and (he) is carrying a compact assault rifle and he was crouched in the woodline on the road across from the guard shack.” 

The reporting deputy spoke with a witness, who “advised me that while he was driving in the golf cart he recognized a figure in the woodline. (He) said that as he got closer he could identify a male crouched in the woods and explained he looked as if he was angry that he was seen by him.” 

Both the man and another witness said they hadn’t seen the man before. 

The man said he wasn’t sure if the assault rifle was loaded “but could identify he had loaded magazines hanging from his desk.” The man said he told a park employee who notified law enforcement and the DNR. 

Deputies searched around and came up empty, but returned after another sighting of a suspicious person thought to be the same one seen earlier.  

A DNR officer found the man, who was identified, and “he was carrying a loaded assault rifle and a pistol on his leg,” the report said. “(He) stated he was training for the military in the wooded area as he is healing from a recent injury.” 

The DNR officer asked the man why he doesn’t “conduct his training at the military base (Fort Stewart), he said he does not want to register his weapons through the military post because he does not like/agree with the registering process.” 

The man said “he knew it was legal for him to open carry in the state of Georgia and that he is not breaking any laws,” and the DNR officer “agreed and said he is not breaking any laws but explained how it can be frightening for the public to see him and the park employees have no information on him.” 

The DNR officer asked the man to go to the front desk to explain what he was doing and “inform them of the times that he plans to come out to conduct his training to avoid this occurring again.” The man agreed.  

 Matter of record: A deputy was sent to Love’s Travel Stop in Black Creek at some point on the afternoon of April 30 regarding “a courtesy transport from Bulloch County.” 

There, he met a Bulloch County deputy who turned over a woman who was to be given “a courtesy transport to Chatham County.” 

The deputy identified the woman, and she “stated she was leaving a facility in Swainsboro and trying to get to her sister’s house in Chatham County ….”  

“While transporting (the woman), I contacted (her) foster mother by telephone, who stated that (the woman) left from a mental facility in Swainsboro where she was court ordered to be,” the deputy reported. “The foster mother was able to provided me with a phone number to a Swainsboro police officer, who I then contacted. The Swainsboro police officer stated they were looking for (the woman), who he knew left the facility.” 

The Swainsboro officer “stated that an employee told him that (the woman) was banned from the facility,” but “the officer stated he received a call from the head of the facility at a later time, who stated (the woman) was not banned from the facility and left without notice.”
The facility contacted Bryan County Dispatch to see about returning (the woman) to the facility,” but “the facility was not able to provide court-ordered documentation there I transported (the woman) to the Shell Quick Stop near the Bloomingdale Exit off I-16. (She) was dropped off at 17:40.” 

 Stolen vehicle, false report of a crime, etc: Deputies were dispatched to Belfast Keller Road around 3:30 a.m. regarding a two vehicle accident and saw a “small black vehicle in the ditch of a curve and approximately 300 feet east a subject on their hands and knees in the west bound lane.” 

The subject ‘was wearing a black hoodie, black jeans and a black stocking type skully,” the report said, and “was noticeably injured and was bleeding profusely about the face and head. The subject could barely speak but was uttering he was hit by the vehicle and the subjects ran from the scene.” 

The deputy reported it as a “possible vehicle vs. pedestrian accident,” and called for Georgia State Patrol. 

The deputy also called for Bryan County EMS and got the subject’s ID and identified him through a Social Security card in his wallet. 

GSP showed up and dispatch said the vehicle in the ditch was “stolen from Beaufort, S.C., and a firearm was used in the theft.” What’s more, “a firearm matching the description (a Smith & Wesson .38 special used in the theft) was located inside the vehicle,” the report continued. 

Investigation “determined that (the injured man) was the driver of the stolen vehicle.” 

The car was towed, the case turned over to detectives. 

Vehicle fire: Deputies were sent to the area of Bill Futch and Page Road recently for a vehicle fire. The complainant “indicated he rented a LINK-BELT 300x4 Track Excavator and it caught on fire while in use.” 

The deputy noted he “observed the Excavator burning in a field away from any other fire. Bryan County Fire attempted to put out the fire.” 

The serial number of the excavator was duly noted. 

Vehicle fire: Deputies were sent April 29 to a construction site “on Highway 280 near the intersection of Oracal Parkway and Highway 280 in reference to a forklift that was on fire,” a report said. “Upon arrival it was noticeable the Skytrak Forklift was on fire in the middle of the concrete pad on site. BCFD was able to extinguish the flames and secured the scene.” 

The complainant “stated as he was driving east on Highway 280, he noticed the smoke coming from the forklift and called 911. (He) stated when he stopped to call 911, he did not notice anyone near the area. I was unable to locate a serial number for the forklift due to the fire but was able to identify the forklift as a SkyTrak forklift believed to be owned by Synergy Rentals out of Statesboro, Ga. The cause of the fire is unknown at the time.” 

 Matter of record: A South Bryan woman reported “while in traffic with her friend she looked over and observed a male subject looking at her smiling.”

The woman said in order to be polite “she smiled back and they pulled off and headed in the direction of her residence.”  

The woman said the man began to follow them to her home, then passed by. “Victim added her friend jumped off to confront the male but he sped off as she approached.”
She gave the deputy a description of the man and his vehicle, and said she saw the man drive by again, “this time her boyfriend went out to confront the driver but he again sped off but not before they were able to get the tag number of the listed vehicle.”
The deputy checked the registration, got a number and called it. He “spoke with the wife of the other registered owner, who is her husband. She was asked to advise her husband that it’s not a good idea to stalk or harass others when the attention is unwanted as this could be grounds for legal action. The wife advised she would pass along the message.” 

Suspicious incident: Deputies were sent to an Ellabell address April 26 regarding “a unwanted subject on the premises and they were supposed to be damaging property.” 

A deputy reported when he arrived he found no one there, “and it did not appear as if anyone had done any damage to the property.” The deputy tried to reach the complainant, but “found out from dispatch that the complainant was not even there but at the hospital in Savannah.” 

Harassing communications: A deputy was sent to a subdivision address on April 28, where he met with a woman who said “her neighbor had placed an item in her mail box without (her) consent or knowledge.”  

Then the woman said it stems from an incident “that occurred last month between her juvenile daughter and (the neighbor’s) juvenile daughter while at school. (She) said that both juveniles attend the same school and that there had been a physical altercation that occurred between juveniles.”  

The woman then said “since then, in order to bring awareness to the situation at the school she posted about the incident on Facebook, omitting names and identifying information of the juveniles.” 

The woman said she then got an email from the neighbor, “asking her to remove the posts from social media because it was slanderous towards (the neighbor and her husband),” the report said, noting the woman also said she got a text from her neighbor telling her to check her email, and a letter in an “unmarked envelope that she opened as far to see that it appeared to be as the email.” 

The woman said she also got a “cease and desist letter” from an attorney. 

The woman wanted to have the incidents documented and got a case number. The deputy told her she might check with the postmaster about things being put in her mailbox, and to check with magistrate’s court and contact Richmond Hill Police about the initial incident between the juveniles.  

Theft: A woman reported her car was broken into on April 28 while it was parked at Devaul Henderson Park. Deputies saw where it looked as if the car had been broken into. Taken were credit cards and cash, and the woman said some $3,000 in charges had already been made. She got a case number and was told to contact her banks and credit card companies. The case was turned over to detectives.  

Fraud: A woman with a Korean name and a North Bryan address reported May 4 that the day before “two people dressed as Georgia power, driving a Georgia Power truck, came to her resident and advised her she was behind on her bill and needed to pay now to avoid her service being disconnected.”

The woman told deputies”the two people had a credit/debit card reader with them and she allowed them to swipe her card.”

Since then, “a total of $,2064.14 had been taken from her bank account. She stated that the withdrawals also happened on April 28,” but “due to the language barrier,” the deputy was unable to “determine how it happened in April.”

The woman said she contacted her bank and put a hold on her account, etc. She also told deputies she contacted Georgia Power “and they advised it was fraudulent and they would not come to the house and ask for money.”