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Cash switcheroo steals from pizza place
RHPD crime reports
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From Richmond Hill Police Department reports:

April 12
A Richmond Hill man was charged with selling cocaine after a traffic stop because he was tailgating turned up more than 7 grams of cocaine in a pair of small plastic bags, cash and scales.
The man was pulled over after an officer first spotted it near City Hall around 8 p.m.
“It had been raining throughout the day, the roads were wet and there was a slight rain at the time,” the officer reported. “I observed the listed vehicle … driving in the right lane approximately one car length behind the car in front of it. The vehicle appeared to be traveling the speed limit (35 mph). It was apparent that the vehicle was following at a dangerous distance (behind) the vehicle in front of it.”
The officer turned on his in-car camera, recorded his “observation” then pulled the car over on Ivey Street.
While talking to the driver, the officer “was struck by an overwhelming odor of green marijuana coming from the vehicle,” the report says.
Ultimately, the driver told police where the pot was. The cocaine was found in a toiletry bag on the front passenger seat. Cash totaling $189 was found inside the car, and it was given back to the man, who told police the bag wasn’t his.
He was arrested and charged with felony possession of cocaine, misdemeanor marijuana possession and possession of a drug-related object. He was given a written warning for tailgating. His car was picked up by his girlfriend.

April 12
An officer was sent to the Holiday Inn to handle a suspicious-person complaint in which the person was “currently inside the bathroom of the business.”
The reporting officer talked to the complainant, an employee, who said “the suspicious male had been hanging around in and out of the bathroom and she requested police assistance to ask the male to leave the business.”
What’s more: “She further stated he had made a mess inside the bathroom and employees were tired of cleaning up the unnecessary mess he would leave behind.”
The man also was neither a guest nor a customer, the complainant said.
The officer opened the bathroom door “and observed (a man) wearing a red shirt and tan shorts. The suspect appeared to have just finished eating a meal from a local fast food establishment and charging his personal cellphone. I noticed trash on the floor and the counter like the complainant mentioned.”
The officer asked the man who he was and where he was from.
The man gave his name and told the officer he was from Cincinnati, he had been visiting his kid in Jacksonville, Florida, and was on his way back to Ohio when he ran out of money.
The officer explained why he was there and warned the man about criminal trespass, and the man cleaned up his mess, then said he would be leaving with someone at the TA truck stop. A check showed the man wasn’t wanted, so he was allowed to go.
The officer gave the complainant a case number and told her what to do if the man returned.

April 11
Police were sent to CVS around 10:43 a.m. “in reference to three young subjects possibly intoxicated and stumbling about.”
By the time they got there, the trio — a woman and two men — had moved on, and police were getting additional reports on the three, who were “extremely intoxicated and high on narcotics stumbling near the pool area and walking towards the computer store,” the report says.  
“I immediately left CVS and began to canvass the area along with other units,” wrote the reporting officer. “Several minutes later I was able to locate the subjects leaving the Ace Hardware parking lot.”
It didn’t take long for the officer to notice something was amiss. “The female in question had slurred speech and was unsteady on her feet,” the report says, noting that the officer told the woman “she was allowed to drink but not be intoxicated in public to the point where she could not walk and police receiving numerous complaints.”
The woman tested positive for alcohol and was arrested. The men denied drinking and claimed that a backpack sitting between them belonged to the woman. The officer checked inside and found “a red pair of shorts belonging to a male that were holding a glass smoking device and a small white container wrapped within,” the report says.
Inside the white container was a “leafy green substance consistent with that of marijuana …” the officer continued, noting that he asked the men who the shorts belonged to, “due to the fact that they were clearly male shorts.”
Both men said they had no clue and were detained. The woman said she couldn’t remember who the red shorts belonged to, but they weren’t hers. She did claim the alcohol in the bag, which wasn’t mentioned in the report.
What was mentioned was that police found a marijuana cigar on one man and a marijuana cigarette on the other.
The three were arrested for possession of marijuana and public drunkenness.

April 10
Police were called to the Super 8 hotel shortly before 7 p.m. in reference to a man and woman fighting in the parking lot.
When the reporting officer got there, he spotted a man trying to get a woman to get into a car. He smelled of alcohol and “was very upset and stated he was having a disagreement with his baby momma,” the report says.
The officer got the man’s license, and a check revealed it was suspended, so he couldn’t drive anywhere. “I also explained to him he was out in public causing a disturbance while intoxicated,” the report says. “(He) admitted he’d been drinking most of the day at the beach.”
At that point, the officer arrested the man. He then talked to the woman, who “at first provided me with the wrong name and date of birth.” Police got her correct name and then found out she was “wanted out of Hinesville Police Department on a probation violation.”
After confirming the woman was still wanted, she was arrested and taken to the Liberty County line, where she was turned over to an HPD officer. The man was able to post bond.

April 10
A Papa Murphy’s pizza employee told police a man swindled her out of more than $75.
The employee said a Hispanic man came into the restaurant to “purchase some dough,” then handed her a $100 bill, the report said. “(She) entered the transaction into the cash register, at which time the Hispanic male changed his mind and pulled out a twenty-dollar bill. She further explained the male asked to switch the twenty-dollar bill for the hundred-dollar bill ….”
The employee took the $20 and gave the man back his $100, then looked at the cash register and gave the man $95.88 in change.
Once she realized the mistake, she told her manager, who in turn asked for a police report.
The officer got a description of the man and was told there could be video of the man from security cameras.

April 10
Police were sent to a Plantation Apartments address over a dispute over potted plants.
According to the report, once officers arrived, the complainant got upset and “started yelling across the road (at a neighbor).”
“The complainant stated that (the neighbor) came into her home and began accusing her of taking two plants from her back porch and giving them to a relative. According to the complainant (the neighbor) got the information from another resident that was not identified but was a mutual friend.”
The complainant also said that had she been home, the neighbor wouldn’t have been allowed inside.
“She stated the argument became heated and that when she started calling the police (the neighbor) decided to leave,” the report says.
The officer then talked to the neighbor, who said she went to the complainant’s apartment to “confront her about the theft of the plants.”
The woman said she “did not have any actual proof of the theft nor could she narrow down a date when the theft occurred. She did state that the person who provided her with the information recently had a falling out with (the complainant).”
The officer told the woman it was wrong to accuse people of crimes without proof, then talked to the complainant, who didn’t want to push the matter. They agreed “that they would refrain from contact.”

April 9
An officer was sent to the Travel Lodge on Highway 17 shortly after 9 p.m. after an employee told them a guest had found a revolver under a mattress.
The guest had long since left – “(The employee) stated that the guest did not remain at the hotel and left shortly after checking in because of the incident. “
The motel employee told police he went to the room and found the revolver under the mattress but atop the box spring, the report said, and “he checked the firearm and stated it was not loaded when he found it and there were no bullets in the room.”
The officer made sure the gun was empty and a check showed the last person to stay in the room was a man with a Florida address. The gun wasn’t listed as stolen, but the brand and model had been scraped off. It was described as black and silver. It was seized by police.

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