A man who reportedly gave a friend from his neighborhood a ride said he was robbed at gunpoint by that same friend and four other males Monday night.

A deputy with the Newton County Sheriff’s Office responded to Avery Street in Covington in reference to an armed robbery, which reportedly happened in the county around 9 p.m. NCSO Deputy Cortney Morrison said the man, 20, told the deputy that he gave a friend from his neighborhood a ride to Oxford to sell a gaming console. According to Morrison, when they arrived at an undisclosed location, the man’s friend got out of the car and four black males approached the vehicle.

"One of the males had a revolver in his hand and placed the firearm in (the victim’s) face demanding money. He (the victim) stated another individual struck him in the face with their fists," Morrison said. "(The victim) did have visible injuries as a result of that. Another male, reached in and began searching him (the victim) and they removed an iPhone.’’

Morrison said the victim was able to put the car in drive and leave the area. She said the victim was able to give the deputy some identifying information about the suspects, and investigators are working to find out more information about the case.

Bits and pieces

NCSO deputies are looking to find out who may have blown up a family’s mailbox Sunday. A report said a deputy responded to a home in the Berkshire Subdivision, where he spoke to a man who said his daughter found the family’s mailbox in the street in multiple pieces.

The man reportedly went to the mailbox and discovered an unknown person put a two-liter bottle inside the mailbox with an unknown substance. According to the report, the man said the bottle exploded and that pieces of the mailbox and items from inside the bottle went everywhere. The deputy reportedly found several pieces of the mailbox and the two-liter bottle around the area. The scene was turned over to a Crime Scene Investigator.

Dogs reportedly destroy chickens, fence

A NCSO deputy responded to a home on Country Creek Road Monday after a man called and said that his neighbors’ dogs damaged his property. According to a report, the man said two pit bulls tore down his chicken fence and killed his chickens. He told the deputy a total of 12 chickens were dead, and that several other chickens were missing.

The man reportedly followed the dogs back to the owners’ home down the street, and the owner came to the man’s house to see the damages caused by the dogs. The man said the dog owner told him to, according to the report, "Do whatever you think has to be done," to come to an agreement on the damages. The deputy was unable to talk to the dog owner. The deputy advised the man about the civil process for addressing the damages and also to contact animal control about the dogs continuously not being on a leash.