From the Blotter

Pit bullies

A Bates Road family called deputies after their puppy was mauled to death by three loose pit bulls.

Family members say they came home Sunday afternoon to learn their neighbor's dogs came onto their property and attacked their three-month old puppy, "Roscoe."

According to witnesses, Roscoe was in a fenced area, but one of the pit bulls grabbed him by the head and pulled him through a gap in the fence.

One neighbor eventually beat the dogs off Roscoe with a shovel, but the puppy couldn't be saved.

"That could have been a kid those dogs attacked," one member said.

The family says they plan to seek warrants against the neighbor who owns the pit bulls.

Coat scam

Someone's trying to dupe local residents into contributing to a fake cause.

Last week, five people filed complaints after receiving shady phone calls from someone claiming to work for the Waynesboro Police Department.

The caller told residents the department was collecting money to purchase winter coats and asked them to make donations.

"It's not true … don't send any money," Investigator Claude Wade said. "Our department does not solicit money from the public."

Anyone who received a similar call or made a donation is asked to call investigators at 706- 554-8029.

Stuffed

A Waynesboro man was taken into custody after an investigator spotted him stuffing his pants on Seventh Street.

When questioned, the man, later identified as 23-year-old John Henry Nair, produced a pair of denim shorts he'd been trying to conceal inside his pants.

Nair said he'd bought the shorts from a man on Martin Luther King Drive.

After a quick transport to the Waynesboro Police Department, Nair admitted he'd actually taken them from M&S Urban Fashions on East 6th Street.

He was charged with theft by shoplifting.

Not the sheriff!

South African scammers are getting bolder … or dumber.

Sunday, a couple identifying themselves as "Chief Dr. and Mrs. M. Hiahane" sent a fax to the Burke County Sheriff Greg Coursey asking him to be their silent partner.

They claimed to be working with the Department of Finance and Economic Affairs and asked Coursey for his personal bank account number so they could transfer $18.5 million to him for temporary safekeeping.

They said he could keep 15 percent, or nearly $2.8 million, just for cooperating.

"This scam actually came in on my private fax machine at the sheriff's office," Coursey said. "If they'll send it to me, they'll send it to anybody."