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Bar fight starts over woman, ends with arrest
Richmond Hill Police Department Reports
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Shoplifting/Aggravated Assault

June 6 – An officer responded to a business on Ford Avenue on a shoplifting call. The officer spoke with the complaints who said the suspect has left the area but described him to the officer, who then put out a call to other officers in the area to be on the lookout for the man.

The officer patrolled the area and then saw another officer with the man just off of Ford Avenue. The man was taken back to the store where he was identified by the complainants.

The two complainants told the officer while they were working they heard the alarm go off and when they looked up they saw the man walk out the door and remove a nail gun from under his shirt. When one of the complainants yelled at the man he ran. When the employees left the store they saw the nail gun lying on the ground. One of the employees picked up the nail gun and continued to run after the suspect. The employee caught up with the man, who told him he had dropped the gun in the parking lot. The man then reached into his pocket, grabbed a knife and pointed it at the employee in a threatening manner. The suspect then jumped a fence and ran off.

The suspect was informed by police that he was being placed under arrest for shoplifting and aggravated assault. The man was then taken to the Bryan County Jail without incident.

 

Affray

June 7 – All city officers were dispatched to a fight at a bar on Hwy. 17. When officers arrived they talked with a man who was walking away from the scene and were directed to him by the large crowd that had gathered.

The man appeared to be irate and the officers couldn’t tell whether he was a threat to them or not. Due to the nature of the situation and the large crowd one of the officers handcuffed the man, who had a wound on the side of his head. He was placed in the back of a patrol car until EMS arrived. When EMS got to the scene they decided to take the man to the hospital and as the paramedics began to treat the man the officers asked him how he had gotten the wound.

The man told the officers he had been talking to a woman in the bar and then exchanged words with the woman’s boyfriend, who ended up punching him in the side of the head. The man said he was escorted out of the bar.

The officers left the man with EMS personnel and talked with the woman and her boyfriend. The man told the officers he and the man had exchanged words over his advances towards his girlfriend. The man said he thought the incident was over until the man and two men with him were leaving the bar at which time the man came to him, insulted him and then pushed him with both hands. He said it was at this point he punched the man in the head. The man then said two employees of the bar escorted the man outside.

A few minutes later EMS radioed the officers needing assistance, saying the man in the ambulance was becoming combative. An investigator was dispatched to the scene of the incident while one of the officers went to meet the ambulance.

The officer still on the scene briefed the investigator when he arrived and then spoke with the two men who were with the man who was punched. They confirmed the story of their friend making advances toward the woman and how the fight happened. The two men also said when the bouncers in the bar were escorting the man outside he fell and hit his head on the wall. The officers noticed damage to the wall consistent with their story.

The man who punched the other man was arrested for disorderly conduct and was taken to the police department where he bonded out.

 

Fleeing or Attempting to Elude Police Officers

June 7 – An officer was patrolling Hwy. 17 when he clocked a car speeding. The officer activated his blue lights and attempted to pull the car over and the car pulled over as if it was going to stop. But the driver continued at a high rate of speed and when the officer turned on his siren the car sped up. The officer informed dispatch that he had a driver that was not stopping for him. The driver continued at high rates of speed and the officer was informed by his commanding officer to no longer pursue the car.

The officer was unable to get the tag number on the car but did forward a description of the car to Liberty County Police as the car was headed in that direction.

 

Open Container

June 9 – An officer responded to the area of Ford Avenue regarding a possible drunk driver who was driving while drinking beer. The person who reported this gave a description of the car and the driver, and was able to provide a tag number.

An officer saw the vehicle and initiated a traffic stop. While speaking with the driver the officer could smell an odor of alcohol coming from the vehicle and noticed the driver had watery and bloodshot eyes.

The officer asked the man to get out of the truck and when he did the officer saw an opened beer bottle spill into the truck and onto the ground. The man submitted to some field sobriety tests and a breath sample showed there was alcohol in his system.

The man was placed under arrest for having an open container while driving and driving under the influence. The man was taken to the police department, booked and then taken to the Bryan County Jail.

 

Simple Battery

June 10 – An officer was dispatched to a physical domestic violence incident on Hwy. 17. The officer responding was told the male suspect had left the incident site and was headed in the direction of a nearby hotel. The officer patrolled the hotel and saw a man matching the suspect’s description. The officer made contact with the man and put him in handcuffs and told him he was being placed in investigative detention.

The officer then went to the gas station where the alleged victim was and spoke with her. The woman told the officer she was in the store buying a few items and that her boyfriend walked up to her and asked her for some clothes he already had. She said that the man then grabbed her purse, searched it and boxed her in the nose.

The officer noticed the woman had swelling in the area of her nose and that it was bleeding slightly. EMS arrived and the woman refused treatment. EMS said her nose appeared to be broken and that she should seek medical treatment.

Another officer on the scene spoke with a witness who said he observed a man run through the parking lot, turn back and then enter the store. He said the man approached the woman in the store and started yelling at her and then punched her in the face. The man then said he saw the suspect yell at the woman again and then run from the store.

Another witness gave a similar story. The suspect was then taken to the police department, processed and taken to the Bryan County Jail.

 

Incidents taken from reports on file at the Richmond Hill Police Department.

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