Police are searching for those responsible for the theft of cash, a cash register and smoked meats from Ramsey's Produce Stand either late Friday or early Saturday morning.

The owner of the store found the side door pried open when he arrived Saturday morning to open the store. The cash register was missing (valued at $150), along with roughly $80 that had been inside of the register, and about $45 worth of packages of hams and seasoned meats.

Officers searched a known abandoned residence and found both the top and bottom pieces of the cash register tossed into a creek near the abandoned home. Part of the register had a bloody thumb print on it and a piece of receipt tape had a "sizable" amount of blood on it, which officers were able to collect.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Covington Police Department at (770) 786-7605 or online at covingtonpolice.com. All tips can be given anonymously.

Mother/daughter can't go to Cato

A mother and daughter were arrested Saturday afternoon after one was caught reportedly shoplifting and the other covered up for her.

Officers were called to Cato where an employee gave them a description of a woman who had just reportedly stolen some jewelry from the store. Officers were able to find and stop the car and speak with the driver, later identified as Jill Lynn Davenport and her mother Joyce Faye Stephens. Davenport, whose license came back suspended, reportedly admitted to being in the store but denied taking anything, while Stephens denied having been inside the store for more than a moment.

Davenport allowed officers to search her purse. They didn't find missing jewelry, but they did reportedly find a plastic straw and white powder inside of it that Davenport said was crushed Colonpin, a muscle relaxer that she crushed and snorted to relax.

While she didn't have a prescription for it, her mother did and reportedly admitting to giving the pills to her daughter so she could relax. However, Davenport later told police she had purchased the pills from a man off the street, according to reports.

Inside Stephens' purse, the officers allegedly found the missing jewelry from Cato. Stephens said that she had put them in her purse because she was trying to protect her daughter.

Stephens was arrested and charged with theft by receiving and obstruction and Davenport was charged with theft by shoplifting, possession and driving on a suspended license. Both were also given a criminal trespass warning by Cato.

Parking lot bar

A fender bender Thursday evening led to the arrest of Ronald Ames for DUI, leaving the scene of an accident and a red light violation.

Police were called by two others involved in the car accident who said the vehicle being driven by Ames had left the scene, and one of the other cars struck had followed him to an address, where he reportedly exited his car and went inside. Officers from the Covington Police Department converged on the address and met with Ames who allegedly admitted the car outside was his and that he had just been involved in an accident. When asked by officers why he left the scene of the accident, he reportedly said, "I just wanted to get home."
Officers noted that Ames had liquid stains all over his shirt and pants, was sweating, appeared agitated and smelled of alcohol. When asked how much he had to drink, he initially said three beers, then changed that to a bottle of wine, according to reports. When the officer asked Ames where he drank the wine, he allegedly said he purchased it at Kroger and drank it in the parking lot.

After failing sobriety tests, Ames was arrested and transferred to the Newton County Detention Center. A breath test showed Ames blood alcohol level was .121. The legal limit in Georgia is .08.

Covington grinches steal packages

Two Covington men were arrested Friday after reportedly stealing packages from the front porch of two residences, recently delivered by UPS.

According to neighbors, the two men, later identified as 25-year-old Delroy S. Cunningham and 24-year-old Marquis Nasheen Harrison, walked up to the homes were moments before UPS dropped off packages, and took the packages, putting them in their vehicle.

When officers found the vehicle, they watched as Cunningham reportedly exited the car and threw two brown packages into a dumpster at Covington Medical Center. When officers approached the car, they found not only Cunningham and Harrison, but also Joshua Carter and an infant in the car as well.

When they searched the vehicle, officers found a new shirt and sweater and a cell phone - both of which the residents reported as the items in the UPS boxes. The boxes, retrieved from the dumpster, had the addresses on them where neighbors reported the boxes were taken from.

The child was turned over to a family member and all three men were arrested for theft by taking and trespassing.