MOULTRIE — A man who tried to pass a forged a check at a Moultrie convenience store was nabbed Wednesday after an employee followed him to another store and alerted police.

John Stanley Griner, 52, 2344 Old Doerun Road, was arrested after he led an officer on a brief foot chase from Harvey’s Supermarket, 1209 First Ave. S.E., Moultrie Police Department reports said.

Police said that an employee at Enmark, 915 First Ave. S.E., reported that Griner tried to purchase two cartons of Newport cigarettes using a check on an account that had been flagged. When an employee asked Griner for identification, he told her to void the check and left with two men in a gray Chevrolet Caprice.

An Enmark employee followed the car to Harvey’s where an officer approached Griner inside the store, police said. When the officer asked Griner to stop and talk with him he ran out of the store and was caught in a wooded area behind American Pawn.

When officers searched Griner, a check book that did not belong to him was found, police said, and before police arrived he had used one of the checks to make a purchase at Harvey’s.

Moultrie police charged him with two counts of forgery and obstruction of an officer.

Griner also is wanted in Dougherty County on a probation violation warrant, police said.

In other arrests:

• Chalaka Tamara Young, 38, 1022 Ninth Ave. S.E., was charged Jan. 10 with two counts of financial transaction card fraud.



Berlin Police Department

• Paul Lamont Merritt, 33, 1306 Leone Ave., Valdosta, was charged Tuesday with driving under the influence, speeding (125 miles per hour in a 45 zone), fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, speeding (85 miles per hour in a 55 zone), open container violation, reckless driving, failure to drive within a single lane and failure to stop at a stop sign.

Merritt was arrested Tuesday evening after a Berlin officer chased a 2007 Dodge Charger into Moultrie, where the driver, identified as Merritt, crashed into another car at the intersection of Ninth Avenue and 11th Street Southeast.

Moultrie police charged him with reckless driving and failure to maintain lane.



Sheriff’s Office

• Donna Elaine Warren, 52, 3109 Veterans Parkway Apt. D-8, was charged Wednesday with two counts of failure to appear.



Norman Park Police

• William Ranford Vinson, 61, 768 Moye Road, Norman Park, was charged Wednesday with driving while license suspended.



Thefts

• Erika Saucedo, Moultrie, reported Wednesday a burglary at the business Deportes Cruz, 307 Sixth St. S.E.

Taken were office equipment valued at $400, electronic equipment valued at $1,800 and $340 worth of other property, police said.

• Leo Martinez, Moultrie, reported Thursday the theft of an iPhone 4S that he lost in a parking lot in the 600 block of Veterans Parkway South.

Martinez told police that when someone called the phone, which belongs to Cole Taylor, someone answered.

• Family Dollar, 635 First Ave. S.E., reported Wednesday that a man using scissors tried to cut open the package an AT&T pre-paid phone but left the phone under a pillow when he could not get it open.



Sheriff’s Office

• David Powell, 6300 block Georgia Highway 33, Doerun, reported Tuesday the theft of a Benelli M2 12-gauge shotgun and a Marlin .22-caliber rifle with camouflage scope with a total value of $1,250.

• Franklin Miller, 1400 block Georgia Highway 33 South, reported Wednesday the theft of an mdINR blood-testing machine valued at $1,500.

Miller told the officer that the theft occurred on Dec. 24. The report did not indicate the reason for the delay between the theft and the day it was reported.

• Carla Henderson 800 block Marcus Norman Road, reported Wednesday the theft of a Hewlett Packard laptop computer valued at $300.

• Art Ellis, first block Old Tram Road, reported Wednesday that $3,806 was withdrawn from a checking account.

Ellis reported that the bank reimbursed him for the money.



Property damage

Moultrie Police

• Daniella Edwards, 400 block Hillcrest Avenue, reported Wednesday finding a bedroom window of her residence broken when she returned home.