A teen reported this week that a group of males attacked him and took his cellphone in front of his home.

A deputy with the Newton County Sheriff’s Office was dispatched to a home on Fieldview Lane around 1 p.m. Wednesday. Deputy Cortney Morrison said the teen reported to the deputy that an older green Ford Mustang pulled up at his house and three males got out, while one male stayed in the vehicle.

Morrison said the teen reported that the three males approached him and asked to use his cellphone. She said the teen told the three males, ‘“No. It doesn’t work. The battery is dead,.”

The teen said one of the males pinned him against the wall, another took his cellphone, and the third punched him in the face.

The teen told the deputy one of the males had dreadlocks; one was wearing all-black; one had on khaki-colored jeans with a blue hat and had short dreadlocks, and the other had on a gray T-shirt.

Morrison said the teen reportedly did not have any visible injuries as a result of being punched in the face.

Morrison said the crime suppression unit was in the area patrolling during the time the incident allegedly took place, but said deputies did not locate the vehicle described by the teen.

Shoplifting, drug charges
A Porterdale man was arrested on shoplifting and other charges Saturday.

Deputies were dispatched to the Walmart on Salem Road in reference to shoplifting. When they arrived, they found an employee had detained Danny Fitts, 57.

Deputy Cortney Morrison said the employee observed Fitts putting items into a shopping bag and attempting to exit the store without paying for them.

The employee tried to get Fitts to stay in the store, but he refused and pushed his way past the employee, breaking her watch, Morrison said.

When deputies arrived, they searched Fitts and found he had a container without a label, which they later found to contain Loratab. Morrison said Fitts said the pills were prescribed to him, but they were in a container without a label. 

Fitts was arrested and taken to the Newton County Jail. He’s charged with shoplifting, possession of a controlled substance, drugs to be kept in original container, criminal trespassing and simple battery.

Dollar dash
A man reportedly tried to steal $22 worth of merchandise at Dollar General.

A Covington police officer responded to Dollar General, U.S. Highway 278, but while en route was informed that the suspect, later identified as Kenneth William Cavender, had run toward Flower Street.

While in the area of Flower Street, another officer saw Cavender — described as wearing a white hoodie with blue stripes, white shirt and blue jeans — behind apartments on Flower Street.

Cavender reportedly started running, and police chased and eventually caught him.

He was taken back to Dollar General, where an employee told police she had been approached earlier by a customer who told her that there was shoplifting in progress. The employee said she went to an office and reviewed surveillance video. 

The video reportedly showed Cavender leaving an aisle with items in hand, and when he returned on camera, he no longer had the items. The employee told police that another woman approached her and said she was with Cavender, and then left the store.

The employee said Cavender returned and stated he had returned the items. She went to check another camera view, and that is when Cavender ran from the store, she said.