Shoplifting

May 1 – An officer responded to a business on Highway 17 in reference to a shoplifting call. When the officer arrived he met with the owner of the store, deputies from the Bryan County Sheriff’s Department and the suspect.

After speaking with all parties the officer discovered that the Sheriff’s Department deputies had frisked the suspect and found two paintbrushes in his front pocket. The owner of the store confirmed those were the brushes the man hid and left the store with without paying. The man said he did take the brushes because he didn’t have any money.

The owner of the store told the officer he did not want to prosecute, but said he didn’t want the man back in his store. The items were returned, and the man was instructed not to return to the store.

May 1 – An officer responded to business on Highway 17 regarding a shoplifting suspect. When the officer arrived he was notified that the man sitting in front of the store had just crossed the highway and was very unsteady on his feet. The officer spoke with the man and smelled a strong odor of alcohol.

The man identified himself to the officer and the odor was stronger when the man spoke. The man was arrested for public drunkenness. The man voluntarily took a breathalyzer test which showed a presence of alcohol. The man was taken to the Bryan County Jail.

May 1 – A woman called police from a gas station in regard to her purse being stolen. The woman said she was in the store and her husband was pumping gas when he felt the car shake as if someone had hit it. When the husband turned around to see what it was he saw a car leaving the area at a high rate of speed and was unable to get a tag number of description of the driver.

The woman said her purse was missing and included a wallet, a pair of glasses, a cell phone and some credit cards.

The officer checked surrounding pumps to see if anyone had used a credit card that could have belonged to the woman but the officer found that none of the customers using the pumps close by had paid with a card. The officer advised the woman he would patrol the area to see if he could find any of her belongings discarded by the suspects and told her to check with the department a day later to see if anything was found.

May 3 – An officer was dispatched to a place of business in reference to harassment and threats. The officer made contact with a man and a woman. The man told the officer he had heard from the woman that another man was going to kill him if he had anything to do with the woman. The man said the man who threatened him was in a relationship with the woman. The complainant said he was friends with the woman but that her boyfriend had a problem with it, feeling threatened by the man. The man advised his girlfriend he would hurt the other man if he saw them together, though them working together isn’t a problem.

The woman told a similar story, but said her boyfriend just threatened to beat the other man up, not kill him. Both parties said the boyfriend would most likely carry out the threat if he felt it necessary.

The complainant was provided with information on how to deal with the situation.

May 4 – While patrolling Highway 144 an officer spotted a car in which the driver was not wearing his seat belt. The officer pulled the car over and when he asked for the man’s license and insurance card he could smell an odor of burning marijuana. The officer called for backup.

The man was asked to step out of his vehicle and the officer asked if there were any illegal drugs in his car, to which he responded there were not. The officer told the man he could smell marijuana coming from his car and he asked the man if he could search his car, which he agreed to.

During the search the officer found a glass pipe containing marijuana residue. The officer also found a small amount of a green leafy substance that appeared to be marijuana.

The man was subsequently arrested.

May 4 – A man came into the police department regarding a domestic violence incident. The man told an officer his wife, from whom he had been separated for about a year, came to his place of business and began yelling at him to come outside. The man showed the officer court documents that showed mutual agreement that neither would enter the other’s place of business.

The man said he went outside to talk with his wife and she started verbally abusing him. He said he tried to walk away but that his wife physically restrained him. He went into a business close by and asked for help to get the woman away from him. He said when he went back outside and tried to leave the area his wife physically attacked him and that two witnesses tried to restrain the woman.

The officer noticed the man had a visible injury to his forearm that looked to be caused from fingernails scratching him and the man told the officer he had also been kicked and kneed in the leg and stomach areas.

Since the man talked with police after the incident and at a different location the officer did not speak with the woman.

The man was advised on warrant procedures and was provided with information on how to obtain a protective order. He was referred to the services of the Superior and Magistrate Courts, as well as his attorney.