From Bryan County Sheriff’s Office and Richmond Hill Police Department incident reports:

July 16
Assault — An Ellabell man reported that a man with a gun assaulted him in the parking lot of the Zip-N Foods convenience store on Highway 204, possibly out of jealousy because he was talking to the alleged attacker’s ex-girlfriend.
The complainant said the other man, also from Ellabell, charged at him and tried to strike him with a pistol he had in his hand. The alleged assailant stated the other man had kicked in his door and hit him in the head with a pistol, according to the report.
Questioned later at his home, the suspect told deputies he “wanted to do to (the other man) what he had done to him,” but that the gun he used was only a toy cap gun. The man said he didn’t know where the gun was because he “threw it somewhere” and deputies could not locate it, the report states.

Suspicious persons — Three vehicles were spotted in the driveway of an Ellabell house while the homeowner was out of town.
The homeowner called the BCSO after a neighbor told him he saw a silver Thunderbird, red SUV and a third car at the man’s house on Country Side Drive around 5 a.m. The three vehicles left in a hurry when the neighbor yelled from across the road, according to the report.
A deputy checked the home and nothing appeared amiss. All windows and doors were locked.

July 15
Theft — A Richmond Hill woman discovered that more than her avocado spread was missing from her home.
The woman reported that, as she was preparing dinner, she noticed her guacamole had been opened and appeared to have imprints of three fingers in it. Her children said they hadn’t opened the container.
After finding the tampered guacamole, the woman checked on cash she hides in a drawer. The box she keeps the money in was still there, but $2,100 in cash was missing.

Burglary — A BCSO deputy on patrol around 1:30 a.m. noticed the front door was “busted out” at the Zip-N Foods convenience store on Highway 80 in Ellabell.
The deputy called for backup, and he and two other deputies found no one inside the store. The ATM was damaged but nothing else appeared disturbed or damaged, according to the report.

July 14
Suspicious person — A man was taken to the hospital after RHPD received a call that he was looking through dumpsters at the Way Station shopping center.
The man said he had been drinking all night and morning and “had nothing else to eat or drink in a long time,” according to the report. His breath test registered a blood-alcohol content of .277, more than three times the legal limit.
The man said his book bag containing his clothes and South Carolina identification had been stolen, but he could not tell the officer where, when or how it happened. He was taken by EMS to St. Joseph’s Hospital for treatment of heat exhaustion.

Fraud — A Richmond Hill woman called the BCSO after receiving a letter from a collection agency stating she owed $327.32 from a Comcast account that was opened in her name in 2012.
The account had a Detroit, Michigan address, but the woman said she has never lived in that area. She was advised to contact the credit agencies and put a fraud lookout on her accounts.

Property damage — A delivery truck damaged a billboard in front of the Dollar General store on Highway 280 in Ellabell.
The driver told the BCSO the top of his trailer struck the billboard as he was backing his truck into the store parking lot from the highway to make a delivery. The trailer and the billboard both were damaged extensively, and the owners of the billboard were contacted.

July 13
Shoplifting — A man who shoplifted from the TA truck stop in Richmond Hill early in the morning reportedly returned that night.
Surveillance video showed a man stealing two hot dogs and a drink from the store around 6 a.m. The assistant manager reported that the same man was sitting in a car in the parking lot around 7:30 p.m., but he apparently left before RHPD officers arrived.
The man previously has been in the store soliciting work to clean and polish trucks, according to the assistant manager. He had been asked to leave and not return.

July 9
Fire — A RHPD officer extinguished a fire in the pool area at the Motel 6 on Highway 17.
The officer responded to a report around 3:40 a.m. that an umbrella table and chairs were on fire near the pool. While waiting for the fire department, she located a water hose and put out the fire, the report states.
The cloth umbrella and plastic table and chairs were valued at $268, according to hotel management. The manager said the hotel does not have any cameras near the pool area, and the officer reported that no one was at the pool and both pool gates were locked when she arrived.