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RHPD blotter: Man says he sets off store alarm to get cops to jump start car
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From Richmond Hill Police Department reports:

 Loitering: Police were called around 2:30 a.m. June 12 to an alarm going off at the back door of the Goodwill, and there an officer found a “shirtless white male wearing shorts adjacent to a silver in color Chevy Cavalier with the hood and doors open.”

The man told the officer it was about time he showed up, “because he had been trying to get someone to come for over four hours.” He then said he banged on the front doors of the Goodwill to get police to come help him. The man said he was taking items to a storage unit down 144 when “his vehicle died and he been trying to get a jump start for four hours to include walking to Enmarket but had received no help from anyone.”

The officer noted “even if this was true it did not explain why he was parked behind the building in the first place and why he would bang on a business to activate an alarm to have us respond when he could have done so from the gas station.”

So, the officer got a criminal history and learned the man didn’t live in Richmond Hill and apart from having a storage unit in the county “had no reason to be behind closed businesses let alone activating alarms to contact police assistance,” the report continued. What’s more, the man had been charged with drugs and burglary in the past, and a check of his pockets turned up a single shotgun shell. In a shopping cart from Dollar Tree, the 33-year old Pooler man had a large machete, “a magazine for a handgun that was fully loaded, a pair of shoes, SkullCandy headphones, and other miscellaneous items,” the report said.

He was cited for loitering and prowling and released.

Disorderly conduct: Officers were sent to a Highway 17 motel around 4:52 a.m. regarding a woman “wearing a blue tank top that just pulled the fire alarm and is walking around the property under the influence.”

The 37-year-old Florida woman was found in the middle of the road in a tank top, boxers and “no shoes,” and she “appeared to be having a conversation with herself,” the report continued, noting the woman was sweating “and her makeup was spread all over her face.”

She gave police a room number and said she was staying there, but the motel owner said that was impossible because that number belonged to a storage room. The woman admitted to drinking but police suspected she was also probably on some sort of drug. She was arrested for disorderly conduct and public drunk.

Property damage: Police were called to Carver elementary on June 19 regarding shattered windows. In all, 12 windows and two doors had busted glass, and there were “several pieces of concrete near the doors that could have been used to cause the destruction.”

“Due to a surge in recent incidents of property damage at the school patrol officers were instructed to conduct regular security checks of the buildings,” the report said.

An earlier report noted 10 windows on the school had been damaged. And an even earlier report (from June 8) found several old doors windows smashed with bricks and fire extinguishers had been set off.

The reports said school officials planned on putting cameras out to catch the folks destroying taxpayer property.

Theft: A woman reported June 4 they parked a minivan in a vacant lot across Timber Trail from Magnolia Manor and went to the farmer’s market, and when she got back found that the rear passenger tire was gone. She called her husband and then 911. The officer recorded he saw a lug nut and an extension for a lug wrench on the ground beside the minivan.

Obstruction: Police were called to a motel on Highway 17 around 6:40 p.m. June 16 to fulfill a request by management to ban a disorderly man and woman.

Officers were told the man, who had an Iowa address, was working on his broken down vehicle in the parking lot and leaving trash, despite being told not to, and the woman, who gave a Richmond Hill address, “was very rude to most of the staff members by yelling and throwing things at them.”

After some ruckus involving an apparently unrelated break-in which turned into a charge of loitering, police were able to get the woman into a police car but she kept kicking the windows and spit on two officers until “we lifted her shirt just over her eyes and finished buckling her in.”

The 40-year-old woman was charged with public intoxication.”

Suspended license, etc: An officer on patrol on I-95 around 7 a.m. June 21 spotted a southbound pickup “impeding the flow of traffic by traveling in the left most lane designated for passing.”

As the pickup passed the officer, he also noted he “was unable to see the silhouette of the driver in the vehicle, indicating the window tint could be too dark,” the report said.

So, the officer pulled the pickup over around mile marker and learned that the driver’s Georgia license was suspended, the Wisconsin tag had expired and the driver, who said he’d just bought the vehicle, didn’t have a title or insurance, either.

He was taken to RHPD, where he was cited on a number of charges and then given a court date. The pickup was towed.

Wanted person: An officer was sent to a local truck stop on June 28, where a man said he was applying for a job but they needed the expiration date of “his Georgia issued identification card as part of their process,” and asked if the officer could help.

He could, but during the process a background search showed the 24-yearold Richmond Hill man had outstanding warrants in Effingham and Chatham counties, and Effingham wanted him held. He was given a ride to Dasher’s Landing where he was turned over to an Effingham County Sheriff’s Office deputy.

Shoplifting: An employee of a Family Dollar in Richmond Hill reported June 24 that a man had stolen some things. The woman said the man was in his 60s, and short, and “dressed in khaki cargo pants, black shirt, Army fatigue vest, dark hat, black mask (as commonly worn to defend from COVID-19) and walking with a cane,” and gave police a copy of a photo of the man’s license plate.

The employee said the man had been coming to the store “for a few months and she has never known him to purchase anything, which is why she decided to watch him more closely ….”

The woman said she talked to the man “near the front doors when he stopped to ask her a question. During this conversation, (she) obved a pack of underwear in a pocket on the inside of his vest and as well as one of the cargo pockets on his pants being ‘poofy,’” the report said, noting the woman didn’t want to press charges but wanted the man banned from the store. She was told to call RHPD the next time he came into the store so he could be given a criminal trespass warning.

Shoplifting: Police were called June 22 to Love’s Truck Stop where store employees had a shoplifter in hand. The man was spotted taking a sandwich, a package of donuts and a fountain drink, and then later came back and took a banana pudding cup. Employees said the man, who was listed as homeless, was often in the store a lot so they wanted him prosecuted and banned. The man was charged accordingly, and police learned he was wanted in California, Ohio and Brunswick, Ga. Brunswick authorities didn’t want the man held, and since it was a misdemeanor he was cited and released.

Speeding: A 21-year-old Richmond Hill woman was charged around 4:30 p.m. June 20 with speeding and reckless driving after she was clocked in a Honda CRV going 105 mph on I-95 northbound.  

 Speeding: A 28-year-old Florida man was charged round 3:20 p.m. June 20 with speeding and reckless driving after he was clocked in a GMC SUV going 103 mph south on I-95.  

 Theft: A Highway 17 restaurant owner reported June 23 “the sprinkler control box had been stolen from behind the business,” along with about $100 worth of wiring. He got a case number, etc. 

 Matter of record: A woman reported June 8 the people who live in the apartment upstairs “stomping around,” and that she was told by management that she needs to make a police report to turn into the office. The woman said she didn’t want the cops involved and “so she talked to the tenants (upstairs) on her own, but they had a nasty attitude.”  

The woman said the issue was ongoing, and she has a 1-year-old son who has been awakened “due to the loud stomping and banging from (the apartment upstairs.).” 

 Suspended license: A man stopped June 2 on Highway 144 for holding a phone in his hand while he drove said he was “looking for song.” Turned out his license had been suspended. He was cited, his car turned over to someone else.  

 Traffic violations: An officer responding June 1 to an accident at the cross roads found the at-fault driver, a 56-year-old Richmond Hill man, had had his license suspended in another state in 1996 and an attempt to get a license in 2013 was denied. He was charged with tailgating and driving without a license. 

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