Across the area

Another trial date set for Cheeks relative

A trial date is set again for the son-in-law of former state Sen. Don Cheeks, who is accused of committing felony crimes in a land deal with Georgia that netted him almost $250,000 in profit.

Ashby Krouse III, 57, has pleaded not guilty in Richmond County Superior Court to charges of forgery and making false statements and writings. He is on the trial calendar for Monday, though he is only one of many defendants set to go before Judge J. Carlisle Overstreet.

Mr. Krouse was indicted in June 2007, two years after The Augusta Chronicle reported on the state's purchase of swampland in south Augusta for use as replacement wetlands.

13 students arrested after fight at Butler

Thirteen students were arrested Thursday after a fight in a common area of Butler High School, said Louis Svehla, Richmond County schools' director of public information.

Six students 17 and older were booked into the Richmond County jail, and the other seven were released to their parents on the advice of the Department of Juvenile Justice. All were charged with disorderly conduct and affray.

"It was a pretty good size fight," Mr. Svehla said, but no injuries were reported.

The students, one of whom was from the Academy of Richmond County, have been suspended pending a disciplinary tribunal, as is normal procedure, Mr. Svehla said. The fight is under investigation.

Tests show fox killed after attack was rabid

A fox killed by deputies Monday after it attacked two women in Columbia County tested positive for rabies, according to county Animal Control Director Linda Fulmer.

The diagnosis, confirmed Thursday by the Georgia Public Health Lab in Decatur, means the women must undergo immediate treatments with rabies vaccine, she said. They have been referred to an area hospital.

The fox, which was killed at one of the victims' homes on Creekwalk Circle near The Pass, is the eighth confirmed rabies case in the county this year. Other cases included a bat, a coyote and five raccoons.

Man sought in theft of pills surrenders

A 29-year-old Aiken man accused of stealing $500,000 worth of weight loss pills turned himself in to Aiken County sheriff's deputies Thursday.

Jeremy A. Jones, of Shiloh Heights Road, is in jail on charges of 16 counts of grand larceny of more than $5,000.

According to a news release, Mr. Jones was employed as a temporary worker at Glaxo Smith Kline from July until December of last year, during which time he stole 16 plastic bags, each weighing about 45 pounds, of Alli weight-loss capsules from its warehouse.

He repackaged the pills and sold them on eBay, according to the release.

Judge denies bond after conviction overturned

A Superior Court judge denied bond Thursday for a man whose murder conviction was overturned in January.

Judge J. Carlisle Overstreet denied bond for Tom Edwin Chumley, who was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison plus five years in 2005. Judge Overstreet said he believed Mr. Chumley is a flight risk and poses a threat to commit another crime.

Mr. Chumley was indicted on murder and weapons charges in April 2004 after authorities said he confessed to shooting Meredith Pete Guy, 74, who was found dead in her Twin Lakes Drive home Feb. 28, 2003.

Though the Georgia Supreme Court found Mr. Chumley "undeniably guilty," it concluded that Judge Overstreet's comments during the trial about the confessions were prejudicial to the jury.

Wounded man charged with attack on couple

Police said a man shot Wednesday evening outside a Wrightsboro Road home was involved in a domestic dispute with his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend.

Willie Clifford Jones, 18, faces charges including terroristic threats and acts and possession of a weapon during commission of a crime, Richmond County sheriff's Investigator Glenn Rahn said.

Police say Mr. Jones came to the home of Willie Reid in the 1400 block of Wrightsboro Road, holding a large kitchen knife while threatening the 65-year-old man and April Dunn, 38.

Mr. Jones was shot in the upper leg by Mr. Reid and remained at Medical College of Georgia Hospital on Thursday, police said.

Ms. Dunn is the mother of Mr. Reid's 12-year-old child, police said.

Mr. Reid exercised self-defense and was not charged, Investigator Rahn said.

Armed man holds up seafood business

Authorities are seeking the man who robbed a Laney-Walker Boulevard business Thursday afternoon.

Workers at Galle's Seafood, 31 Laney- Walker Blvd., said a man with a silver handgun and wearing a bandanna demanded cash at about 4 p.m.

He was last seen running toward First Street, said Richmond County sheriff's Investigator Earnest Furgeison.

No injuries were reported, police said.

Anyone with information can call (706) 821-1080.

-- From staff reports