MOULTRIE — Cotton trucks speeding down Colquitt County roads this time of year aren’t unusual, but the theft of one used for a drive to Statenville is somewhat of a mystery.

BCT Gin Co. reported Monday that one of the large trucks used to haul cotton was taken.

The truck later was found in Statenville, an employee said on Tuesday.

The truck was located there Monday night, and Colquitt County officers staked out the vehicle to see if the thief would return. That didn’t happen, so on Tuesday it was processed to see what evidence could be gleaned.

The gin employee said they expect to get the truck back today or  Thursday.

In another unusual theft, Dora Hernandez of the 100 block of Magnolia Avenue reported that a man who stopped at her residence and spoke with her and then left returned and loaded her toddler’s bicycle into an SUV and drove away.

Hernandez reported that the man came to the door and asked her questions, but because of a language barrier she could not understand him. The man left in a blue Chevrolet Tahoe but returned a short time later and loaded up the red bicycle. Hernandez tried to tell the man to stop.

She described him as a heavy set black man about 6’ 4” tall with dreadlocks.

In other thefts:

• Jack Sutton, 5700 block U.S. Highway 319 North, Norman Park, reported Monday the theft of two shotguns, groceries and a wrist watch with a total value of $451.

Sutton told the officer that the thefts occurred over a five-year period.

• Frank Jackson, 1900 block Sylvester Highway, reported Monday the theft of a Vizio 24-inch flat screen television, Nintendo game system with four controllers and a hand-held game system with three games during a burglary of his residence.

Jackson reported that he found a door had been pried open when he returned home. The estimated value of the property was $600.

• Brent Millican, 1900 block Sylvester Highway, reported Monday that a Pioneer stereo valued at $140 was taken out of a 1995 Chevrolet Caprice. The back seat of the car was damaged in an attempt to get into the trunk.



Moultrie Police Department

• Darrell Funderburk, Moultrie, reported Monday that a set of keys were taken in a burglary in a classroom at Colquitt County High, 1800 Park Ave.

Funderburk told police that the keys would open several classrooms, but he was not sure whether they would open an outside door.

There was no evidence at the school to process because the window broken to gain entry already had been replaced, police said.

• Nakima Hendley, Moultrie, reported Monday the theft of a walled taken while she was doing laundry in the 900 block of North Main Street.

Hendly reported that the theft occurred on Dec. 1, and that the contents of the wallet included a Social Security card and driver’s license.

• Scarlette Wimberly, Camilla, reported Monday the theft of a wallet she lost in the 600 block of Norman Drive.

• Marcus Miller, Panama City, Fla., reported Monday the theft of a Samsung cell telephone he laid down in a waiting room at Colquitt Regional Medical Center, 3131 S. Main St.

• Wal-Mart, 641 Veterans Parkway, reported Monday that a shoplifter took a laptop computer valued at $105.

A store employee told police that a white male with tattoos on his knuckles took the computer. The man, who was holding a television, ran from the store after an employee asked to see a receipt, leaving the television behind.

Officers searched for a black Toyota described by the employee but did not find the car.

Miller told police he left the area for a short time not realizing that other family members who were there also would leave while he was out of the room. He estimated the phone’s value at $450.

• Nitin Patel, Moultrie, reported Monday that a review of store video showed a woman taking a bottle of liquor valued at $51.

Patel told police that he reviewed the video after an inventory showed the merchandise was missing.

• Oxley’s, 818 W. Central Ave., reported Monday that a check passed at the store on Dec. 10 was returned as a forgery.



Arrests

Moultrie Police Department

• Vontressa Renee Dennis, 32, 1106 Fletcher Road, Tifton, was charged Monday with probation violation.



Colquitt County Sheriff’s Office

• Gerardo Arreguin Alvarez, 25, 176 Ga. Hwy. 111, was charged Monday with simple battery.

Alvarez was arrested after Kimberly Corona, of the same address, reported that Alvarez pulled her out of the shower by the hair and hit her. She reported that Alvarez left in a vehicle and then returned before leaving on foot.

After officers searched for Alvarez without success, Corona called a niece who lives nearby and the niece acted as if she could not talk freely. When officers went to the niece’s residence they found Alvarez inside.

• Waylon Joe Selph, 33, 235 Kendalwood Drive, was charged Monday with driving under the influence, open container, failure to drive within a single lane, possession of marijuana, seat belt violation and driving without a license.

• Jermaine Antonio Daniels, 35, 6223 Fourth St. N.W., was charged Monday with probation violation.

• Andre Lanier Hunt, 47, 433 Serena Drive, Norman Park, was charged Monday with probation violation.

• Dustin Paul Jones, 33, 936 Shade Murphy Road, was charged Monday with probation violation.

• Michael Cornelius Herrington, 140 Cox Lane, was charged Monday with probation violation.



Property damage

Moultrie Police Department

• Kiela Ponder, Moultrie, reported Monday that the 1995 Honda Accord she was driving was struck by a hit-and-run driver at the intersection of Ninth Avenue and First Street Northeast.

Ponder told police that after stopping in the intersection she proceeded to cross driving west as no other cars were in sight. After driving into the intersection she saw a car traveling rapidly toward her. The car struck the back of Ponder’s car, turning it 90 degrees.

The driver of the Ford Taurus did not stop at the scene, police said.

• Shemika Dunbar, Moultrie, reported Tuesday that the 2006 Nissan Maxima she was driving was struck by another car at the intersection of Goff Drive and 12th Avenue Southwest.

A witness told police that the car appeared to be a Chevrolet Impala.

• Ulysses Bennett, Moultrie, reported Monday that a bullet was fired through an outside ceiling over the office sidewalk at Forest Creek apartments, 409 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

Bennett told police that resident told him someone fired shots into the air at about 8 p.m.



Colquitt County Sheriff’s Office

• Dan Broome, Ellis Bryan Road, Tifton, reported Monday that three portable toilets, a chain link fence and gate had been damaged at Needmore Speedway, 1060 John Vickers Road.

It appeared that an all-terrain vehicle was used to pull the gate and fence and was used to push the toilets, sheriff’s reports said.



Other investigations

Colquitt County Sheriff’s Office

• Shirley Conger, 1300 block Old Norman Park Road, reported Monday that guns were fired near her residence between 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Conger told the officer that guns are fired in the area several times a week and she is afraid for her family’s safety.

No one firing a weapon was located in a search of the area, sheriff’s reports said.