Madison Police Department
    • On January 20 a recovered stolen property report was filed at an Eatonton Road convenience store after a tow truck driver requested that the city run the vehicle identification number on a 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse that had been abandoned at the store. According to reports the vehicle came back as reported stolen from Columbia County. The vehicle was towed to the city’s secure impound lot and Columbia County officials were contacted.
    • On January 21, Carnell Porter, 53, Madison was arrested and charged with shoplifting after Madison officers responded to a shoplifting complaint at an Eatonton Road grocery store. Reports state that an employee at the store alleged that Porter pushed a buggy with $171 worth of groceries to a van in the parking lot without paying for the items. Officers responding to the complaint observed a van matching the description of the suspect’s van on South Main Street and stopped the van on Hunter Street. Consequent to the stop Porter was arrested. Two other people in the van and Porter were also cited for open container violations. Reports state that three open beers were found in the van.
    • On January 17 a counterfeiting complaint was filed at an Eatonton Road department store after a manager of the store reported that while she was counting a cash drawer she found four counterfeit $100 bills.  The manager said it was not possible to determine which casher accepted the fake bills.
    • On January 17 a counterfeiting complaint was filed at an Eatonton Road restaurant after a man reported that a woman had attempted to pay for her order in the drive-through lane with a counterfeit $20 bill. The woman was told the bill was fake and the woman paid for the order with genuine money. The woman told restaurant employees that she believes she got the counterfeit $20 bill from an ATM machine.

Morgan County Sheriff’s Office
    • On January 18 a theft by taking complaint was filed at Rutledge Baptist Church after a man reported that someone had taken three checks from the church’s checkbook and an Optima Projector. Reports indicate that the man attempted to cash one of the checks at a Regions bank but the bank refused to cash the check. Reports also state that authorities located the projector at a Madison pawn shop. Authorities confiscated the projector and a pawn ticket and placed the items into evidence.
    • On January 20 a theft by taking complaint was filed at the Rutledge United Methodist Church, East Main Street, Rutledge, after a man reported that someone had taken copper tubing from a Westinghouse air conditioning unit located outside the church’s fellowship house. The copper was valued at $100.
    • On January 20 a theft by taking complaint was filed at a Eugene Lane location after a man reported that someone had taken a 17-foot Werner ladder from his property. The man said the ladder was stored outside his workshop and had been taken between December 24 and December 30.
    • On January 19 a theft by taking complaint was filed at a Walker Road location after a man reported that someone had taken a John Deere 190 C 54” deck lawnmower. The lawnmower was taken between January 10 and January 17 and is valued at $3,000.
    • On January 19 a terroristic threat and acts complaint was filed at a Centennial Road, Rutledge location after a woman reported that her husband had threatened her and her boyfriend. According to reports, the woman said the husband became angry when he arrived home and the boyfriend was present. The woman said she had told the husband that she wanted a divorce because of alleged mental and physical abuse. The woman said the husband began drinking after he arrived home. Later, reports state, the woman said the husband woke up and began to argue with the woman and her boyfriend. The woman alleged that the husband threatened to kill the boyfriend several times and that the husband’s sister also allegedly threatened to kill the boyfriend. The woman gave the husband her phone to contact his sister and when the man left the house to make the call the woman locked the doors and called police. Officers arrived and found the husband outside the house. The husband was transported to a truck stop to await the arrival of his sister.
    • On January 18 a fraudulent telephone solicitation complaint was filed at a Heidi Trail, Buckhead located after a woman reported that someone had made several postings on Craig’s List offering chairs, fish tanks, a charcoal grill and other items for free from her house. The complainant said she had not made the posting but had been inundated with calls regarding the false posting. The woman contacted Craig’s List and was given the email account of another woman who had made the false posting. That information was given to investigators.
    • On January 17 a criminal trespass complain was filed at a East Main Street, Rutledge after a man reported that someone had broken a 4” by 6” window pane at his workshop.
    • On January 17 a theft by taking complaint was filed at a Monticello Road location after a man reported that someone had taken a 6’ by 2’ homemade utility trailer, 30” Snapper riding lawn mower and 15 feet of copper tubing that had been connected to a propane tank on the side of a house. Estimated value for the items is $1,500. Officers found evidence where the copper tubing had been cut at the propane tank and the line had been ripped from the ground.

Printed in the January 27, 2011 edition