Across the area

Police question gunshot victim

Investigators are interviewing a man Richmond County sheriff's Sgt. Richard Roundtree said has gone a week without hospital treatment for two gunshot wounds he suffered during the shooting death of John Grimes III.

Sheriff's officers found Steven Griffin Friday evening at the 800 block of Metcalf Street. Earlier this week, the Richmond County Sheriff's Office offered a $1,000 reward for information on his whereabouts.

Mr. Grimes, 27, was fatally shot early last Saturday in Augusta's Bethlehem neighborhood at 12th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Mr. Griffin's injuries are not life-threatening, Sgt. Roundtree said.

Man linked to thefts in two counties

North Augusta's Department of Public Safety issued an arrest warrant Thursday for a Hanahan, S.C., man who has been linked to two local thefts.

Irvin Richard Summey, 52, is accused of walking out of the North Augusta Wal-Mart on June 19 with a computer under his arm. After reviewing security video from the store, an employee from the loss prevention department at the Aiken Wal-Mart determined Mr. Summey was the same man who is wanted for a theft at his store.

Mr. Summey, who is also wanted for theft in Newberry, S.C., is described as a white man, 6 feet tall, weighing 200 pounds, with brown hair and green eyes, who drives a black two-door Mercury Cougar.

Police say parents left child alone during theft

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of two parents who left their 5-year-old daughter at home while they were committing a crime, police said.

Stephen and Susan Tamas, of the 1000 block of McDade Road in Hephzibah, are wanted by the Richmond County Sheriff's Office on charges that they left their daughter unattended in their home Friday.

Richmond County was notified by the Columbia County Sheriff's Office, who found out the girl was alone when they arrested Mr. and Mrs. Tamas on charges of theft.

When a Richmond County sheriff's deputy arrived at the home, he found the door partially open and the little girl asleep in her parents' bed.

The girl was released to the custody of her grandmother.

Teen injured in wreck in critical condition

A 19-year-old Evans woman who was seriously injured Thursday in a wreck on Owens Road remained in critical condition at Medical College of Georgia Hospital on Friday, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Jessica Thompson, 19, of Bohler Drive in Evans, had been listed in fair condition Friday morning, but she was downgraded to critical condition by Friday evening, said Danielle Wong Moores, a hospital spokeswoman.

Ms. Thompson suffered life-threatening injuries when her Ford Explorer veered under the back end of a tractor trailer on Owens Road at Legion Drive in Evans, Columbia County sheriff's Deputy Ted Powers said.

Police say Ms. Thompson, who was traveling east along Owens Road just before 4 p.m. Thursday, swerved her SUV off the road's right shoulder at the corner of Legion Drive to avoid a car that had stopped to turn right onto Legion Drive and allowed the tractor trailer to turn from Legion Drive.

Deputy Powers said Ms. Thompson is at fault in the wreck for driving too fast for conditions.

Armed robbers find little, shoot resident

Armed robbers who forced their way into a home Friday shot the resident when they couldn't find anything of value.

According to a Richmond County sheriff's report, the resident, who lives in the 2200 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, told deputies that he was playing video games when he heard a knock at the door.

When he went to open the door, the resident said, four men forced their way inside and began ransacking the house, grabbing two video game systems, 10 DVDs and a pair of tennis shoes.

The men then began to leave the home when one of them stated, "Since I can't find nothing, I'm gonna kill somebody." The man then pointed a black handgun at the resident and fired a shot that hit him near the left ankle. The robbers ran out of the home.

The man was taken to Medical College of Georgia Hospital for treatment.

Former teacher is accused of sex crime

A 34-year-old Aiken man and former McCormick County schoolteacher was arrested Friday and charged with multiple counts related to a sexual encounter with a child.

Arrest warrants from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division say Stephen Dow Wyman, of the 200 block of Pacer Park Lane, fondled a child younger than 16 between June 20 and Aug. 20 of 2005.

The warrants also say that he also gave pornographic material to a child younger than 12, and encouraged children to view pornographic materials.

He is charged with lewd act upon a minor, two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and dissemination of obscene material to a minor, authorities said.

Mr. Wyman was booked into the McCormick County Detention Center after being arrested by SLED, which handled the investigation at the request of the McCormick County Sheriff's Office.

Jewelry, cash, pistol stolen from home

Thousands of dollars in jewelry was stolen from an apartment Thursday, according to a Richmond County Sheriff's report.

A woman told deputies that someone removed the glass from a rear window and entered the apartment. Once inside, the person took several pieces of jewelry, including three diamond rings, two gold bracelets and a tanzanite necklace.

Cash and a .44 caliber pistol also were stolen.

Library extending hours this summer

The Columbia County Library in Evans is extending its hours of operation during the remainder of the summer.

Starting today and continuing until Aug. 3, the library will be open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays and from 2 to 5 p.m. Sundays.

Washington Road at Davis to be closed

A temporary lane closure will occur for a portion of Washington Road near its intersection with Davis Road from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, according to a Columbia County government release.

The closure will reduce eastbound traffic to one outside lane and is the result of utility relocation work as part of a Davis Road widening project.

Motorists are asked to take an alternate route or allow additional travel time.

Train lawsuit trial scheduled for 2007

AIKEN - A trial for several personal injury lawsuits involving a train derailment that killed nine people as it spread a toxic cloud over Graniteville has been scheduled for next spring.

Attorneys for Norfolk Southern said they need to locate at least 25 medical experts to look at different complaints regarding the effects of the chlorine gas that was released into the air when a train crashed into parked railroad cars in 2005.

The lawsuits claim the railroad company is responsible for extensive health problems in the community. Among the symptoms mentioned are breathing problems, skin and eye irritation, depression and post-traumatic stress.

U.S. District Judge Margaret Seymour scheduled the trial for June 2007. She also agreed to consider an extension to allow more time for discovery in the case.

There are 35 personal injury cases pending in state court and 40 in federal court. A trial date has not been set for 23 claims that were filed after March.

Woman says she was kidnapped, raped

A 47-year-old Augusta woman told a Richmond County sheriff's officer she was raped, robbed and kidnapped early Friday after a man pulled her inside his car in a parking lot in the 1600 block of Gordon Highway.

After offering her a cigarette at 5 a.m., the man forced her into his car and drove to an unknown location, where he raped her, according to the sheriff's report. He also struck her with his fist and took $10, according to the report.

He pushed her out of the car at National Hills Elementary School, at 1215 Northwood Drive.

- From staff reports