From STAFF REPORTS



CORDELE —A would-be robber left the Seventh St. Dollar General empty-handed when he was unable to open the cash register and remove its contents just after 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Cordele Police Department Cpl. Marcus Sales said employees and several customers in the store told him a black male wearing a blue hooded jacket and blue jeans entered the store and went directly to the cash register in an obvious attempt to get money.

After hitting several keys on the register in an unsuccessful attempt to open it, the suspect left the store. Officers searched the area for the offender but could not locate him.

In other activity, police:

— Investigated two theft complaints.

A local motel guest told Sgt. Robert Montgomery someone entered his pickup truck and stole a DeWalt grinder, sunglasses and an assortment of clothing.

A resident of the 700 block of 22nd Ave. E. told Lt. Louis New that sometime within the past few days a Fuji digital camera valued at $300 was taken from her residence.

— Looked into separate fraud reports.

A Drayton Rd. resident told Sgt. Montgomery that upon visiting the local Social Security office she learned someone was using her number in Washington, D.C., and Norfolk, Va. She was advised to pass that information on to proper authorities.

A resident of the 400 block of 21st Ave. E. told Lt. New he had received a $2,800 check in the mail so that he could become a secret shopper for a local store. The complainant also presented two pages of an e-mail and a copy of the check sent to him as part of an apparent scam attempt.

— Responded to a vehicle fire.

Sgt. Carrie Lull said she was dispatched to the 700 block of 13th St. S. shortly after 1 p.m. when a car fire was reported burning at that location.

The vehicle owner said she had just left a service station before driving home and parking in the backyard. Once the vehicle stopped. It began to smoke and then caught fire. City firemen extinguished the flames.

— Made two shoplifting arrests at Wal-Mart.

Sgt. Montgomery cited Seth Edward Bruno, 22, of Cochran, for shoplifting after employees there said they saw him take two DVDs, conceal them and try to leave the store without making payment.

Sgt. Charles Hill also made a shoplifting arrest at the location when store officials said they saw Ladonna Marie Sipp, 20, of 510 11th Ave. W., conceal $40.50 worth of clothing on her person. She was also charged with a probation violation.

— Filed multiple charges against a teen-ager.

Responding just before 9 p.m. Tuesday to a criminal trespass complaint made by a resident of the 200 block of 20th Ave. E., Sergeants Jeremy Taylor and Charles Hill spotted a subject standing in the roadway swinging his arms and yelling.

The officers said they found Alfred Lee Porter, 18, of 312 17th Ave. E., to be intoxicated and thus placed him into their patrol car before meeting with an area resident who told them she had seen him kick in a door at one home and damage mailboxes at two others.

Porter was subsequently cited for three counts of criminal trespass and consumption of alcohol by a person under 21 years of age.

— Cited a 15-year-old for being an unruly juvenile and for criminal trespass after he became angry with his parents and knocked over a television set in the family’s Second Ave. E. residence.

— Arrested two persons in connection with a case for which no details were listed on reports supplied to the news media.

Holli Yvette Thomas, 28, of 310 Oak Ave. W., was charged with apprehension of a wanted person. Covolous Denise Young, 35, of the same address, was cited for four traffic violations and giving false identity information to a law enforcement officer.