West Columbia

tB Avenue, 1000 block: A man called police at 4 p.m. Wednesday after he said his wife told him of jailhouse threats being made on his life. The man said his wife told him a man in jail is mad at him because the man believes the husband “snitched” on him and told police about the arrested man’s meth lab. The wife said the jailed man is “totally obsessed” with her and calls her continually from the jail phones. She said she only takes the calls so she can gain information as to what the prisoner plans to do to her husband. The woman said the latest message from the jailed man stated that he was going to kill her husband. She said the man said that “this time I’ll finish the job.” The husband said the man in jail believes that he called police because the jailed man was running a drug lab on his property, and he is afraid the man may come after him when he gets released. Officers contacted the detention center to make them aware of the threatening phone calls, and the inmate’s phone privileges will be curtailed.

tMeeting Street, 800 block: A man flagged down an officer at 1 p.m. Tuesday after he said another man threatened him with a gun. The man told officers he owed another man $20, but he told that man he couldn’t pay him until he got his unemployment check. He gave the man his identification card to hold until he paid him. But on the day the check came, the first man said the owed man took his entire check from his mailbox. When he went over to that man’s house to get his check and his identification so he could cash the check and pay the man back, the man pulled a 9mm pistol on him and told him not to worry about where the check was. After four hours of negotiations, the man who had loaned the first man $20 took $113 out of the $271 unemployment check and gave the first man the rest. The man who loaned the money told police that pulling a gun on the other man was impossible because he said he had pawned that gun two weeks prior to the incident.

Richland Sheriff

tBlue Mountain Drive, 200 block: Police were called to a home at 6 a.m. after a resident said someone had gotten into her car overnight and stolen all of her identifying information. The woman told deputies that when she went to take her kids to school she realized that her daughter’s book bag was missing. As she looked in the car she discovered that the thief or thieves had also taken a queen size airbed and a camping tent as well as her day planner. Her day planner contained identifying information for her, her husband, and their three children. It wasn’t clear if the car was locked, but the report contained no information about damage to the vehicle.

tMillwood Avenue at Adger Road: Three people were arrested at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday after police stopped them for speeding. During the traffic stop the driver said she didn’t have her license on her, but she appeared to be unsure of her name while speaking to the deputies. She gave several pronunciations of an uncommon name and spelled it three different ways. She also couldn’t decide if she were 26 or 27, but the passenger, who said he was the driver’s boyfriend, backed up the driver’s story every time she changed it. After further investigation, both were identified, and the woman was driving under a suspended license. The boyfriend had a warrant and a woman in the back seat who also swore that the driver’s fake name was real had an outstanding warrant for previously providing false information to the police. All three were charged with giving false information to police, and the driver was additionally charged with driving under suspension. Deputies found a bag of marijuana under the front seat so drug charges were added to the speeding ticket. The rear passenger also had a pair of wire cutters in her purse that are commonly used by shoplifters in a tote that is used by veteran thieves to conceal merchandise. And all three said they were going “shopping.”

tWaverly Place, 1400 block: A woman called police at 7 p.m. Tuesday to report that she thought her car might be stolen. She said she loaned the car to a friend on May 4, and he was supposed to run a few errands, but she hasn’t seen or heard from him since. She also said the man didn’t take or return her phone calls so she suspected he may not be planning on returning the vehicle.

Forest Acres

tHansford Avenue, 1000 block: A bank teller called police at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday after he said a man cashed a bogus check in the bank. The teller said the man presented the check for $498, and it was made out to him. He got the cash, made a $50 deposit into his savings account and left. The teller had the man’s South Carolina driver’s license number and his tag number, but both came back as fakes. The entire incident was caught on the bank’s video surveillance tape and turned over to police.

tFalcon Drive 1rst block: A school janitor caught seven students vandalizing the school at 10 p.m. Wednesday and called police. The janitor spotted the group around the school’s driver’s education car in the rear parking lot after he noticed the school halls were strewn with toilet paper and silly string. The students hemmed and hawed and tried to get away without giving their names the janitor said. They told the janitor they had the school principal’s permission to “decorate” the school as a “senior prank,” but the youngsters apparently didn’t count on the janitor having a cell phone and the principle’s home number. The principle said he never told them they could vandalize the school so the band of geniuses were each cited for littering and made to clean the campus. The officer who handled the investigation later found two bags containing spray paint, chalk, toilet paper, duct tape, more silly string, and an opened box of condoms along the roadside.

tTrenholm Road, 3000 block: An orphanage employee called police at noon Wednesday after she said that a resident had attacked her. The employee said the 17–year–old resident was on probation for a previous incident and had no phone privileges. She said she saw her using the phone and tried to take it from her. A tussle ensued and the employee said the girl scratched her, dug her nails into the employee’s arm, and shoved the employee into a wall. The resident then got very angry and began to yell out threats at the staff and swear at them and call them names. The employee wants to prosecute the resident.