Shoplifting: The manager of the Dollar General on Highway 280 in Ellabell reported Dec. 4 a woman tried to leave the store with an inflatable Santa yard decoration stuffed in her purse. A deputy showed up to find the woman had been confronted by the assistant manager.

“I asked the female what her name was and what happened,” the deputy wrote, noting she told him her name and “instantly admitted to the theft. (She) stated that it was a stupid mistake and she asked the manager to please just let her pay for the item, but the manager refused.”

A cashier said the woman was nervous, which drew attention to her. Both employees said they saw the woman “carry the boxed Christmas decoration in her arm and then noticed that she was no longer carrying the item, but noticed the sudden large bulge in her bag.”

They confronted the woman after she made a purchase and was trying to leave, disabling the automatic door so the woman was trapped.

“The female denied the theft initially and attempted to leave the store, when she realized the doors were not opening she produced the box out of her bag containing the inflatable Santa yard decoration,” the report said, noting the deputy also saw the incident on camera.

Turned out the woman was also wanted in Blooming dale, but they “refused to pick her up,” so she was given a criminal trespass notice and let go.

Drugs: A 52-year-old Guyton woman was sent to the hospital and faces DUI and possession charges after an incident that occurred around 10:30 a.m. Dec. 3 on I-16 in Ellabell. It could’ve been a lot worse.

“Bryan County Emergency Services responded to Interstate 16 in regards to a female possibly suffering from a medical issue who ran off the roadway,” and when the deputy got there EMS reported she was “clutching a prescription pill bottle labeled hydrocodone with (a man’s name) on the bottle.”

The woman told the deputy she’d taken one of the pills and he noted she “spoke with a slow pace and appeared to be fading in and out of consciousness,” and was “in need of medical attention.” The deputy talked to witnesses, who “stated that (the woman) had exited and reentered the roadway several times over the past few miles and had even sideswiped a tractor trailer before exiting the roadway and coming to a rest.”

The pills were taken as evidence and the woman was taken from the driver’s seat, and on the seat the deputy found “a plastic baggie with an unknown white substance believed to be cocaine.”

The report said the drugs would be sent to the GBI crime lab for testing and warrants will be sought.

Arson: A deputy was sent to a Richmond Hill address 1:15 p.m. Dec. 3 because a woman reported Nov. 28 “the offender set her sweater on fire in his yard.”

The woman then showed the deputy a video “of a sweater she claimed belonged to her being lit on fire by an unseen person. (She) stated that the person in the video was (a man),” and that she was going to press charges. The deputy explained what she needed to do, then went to the man’s house to try and get his side of the story, but he wasn’t at home.

Verbal argument: Deputies were sent around 1:20 a.m. Dec. 5 to a Richmond Hill address regarding an man who said his wife was threatening to commit suicide with a knife. Deputies arrived and met the two in their living room, and “neither party had a knife nor was anyone injured,” the report said.

“(The husband) advised that (his wife) got drunk and started arguing with him. (She) advised that she was in the bed sleeping and (he) woke her up asking her if she was going to leave him due to him cheating on her with transsexuals.”

There were no reports or signs of physical contact, the woman said she didn’t want to hurt herself and her husband left. He got a case number.

Simple assault: A deputy met a woman Dec. 2 at a convenience store in Ellabell. There, she told him on Nov. 2 her landlord had barged into her house and “began pushing her with his index finger and cursing her,” and threatening her in various ways, including “I’m going to shove a cat up your (rear end).”

The woman also said he pushed her and threatened her if she called police. The deputy told her he’d file a report so she could take out a warrant.