Reports recently filed by the Hinesville Police Department include:

Nov. 4
Discharging firearm in city and while under the influence — Officers were sent to the Topi Trail area just after midnight on anonymous reports of gunfire. Officers heard gunshots from an automatic weapon in the area. They also saw three men walk out of some woods toward a house. Upon approaching them, two men complied with orders, but a third was belligerent. All were drunk. At first they denied knowing about gunfire but as officers asked questions and looked around the suspects admitted they had been shooting a can near Hack’s Pasture. No charges were filed, however, because officers couldn’t determine who actually fired the weapon.

Larceny — A Hinesville couple reported they had forgotten clothes in two washing machines at an Oglethrope Highway laundromat until after the business had closed the night before. The clothes were missing the next morning. The manager called the person who cleans the business, who said she had taken the clothes and thrown them away.  Her dumpster had since been emptied, she said. Surveillance video, however, showed the cleaner taking the clothes from the washers, drying them and packing them into a plastic bag. And, later the cleaner called the officer and admitted she had kept some clothes. She was told to return the clothes to the laundromat. The owners were informed and asked to inventory what was returned.

Nov. 3
Simple assault — A man called police to a Flash Foods station on Oglethorpe Highway after another man came up to him, exchanged words and then spit on the victim. He told officers he knew the man, but not well, that he knew the man’s wife and they all lived in the same mobile-home park. The victim was not sure what sparked the confrontation.

Aggravated stalking — A woman reported to police that she was trying to get body work done on her car, but that two appointments with an insurance adjuster at the body shop were canceled without her permission. She said she believed her estranged husband had canceled the appointments. The officer determined that violated a protective order she had on her husband and told her how to get a copy of the report to show to a judge.

Driving with suspended registration, no insurance — A patrolling officer’s license plate reader responded to the license of a 1992 Lincoln Town Car, saying its registration was suspended for lack of insurance. So the officer stopped the vehicle. The woman driving said her husband took care of the car’s paperwork and she denied knowing its status. She was ticketed.

Found contraband — Workers at a building on Main Street found a small bag with a white powder in it laying in their lobby. They turned it over to officers, who said they were going to have the contents tested and asked the workers for any security video they had.

DFACS referral, assist citizen — An officer was called to the Wal-Mart Supercenter parking lot where an elderly, confused woman had been seen wandering around. Upon arrival a woman told the officer she had the elderly woman in her van to keep her safe and out of the rain. While they were talking, another woman came up and said she was the elderly woman’s caretaker. She said she had left her client for only 10 minutes while she went inside to use the restroom, even though she was with her daughter who had a shopping cart full of items. The officer continued the investigation and found out later that the caretaker should have known the woman should not have been alone, that the woman had been in the care of the caretaker’s employer for three years. He notified DFACS.

Theft by taking — A construction worker notified police that when he reported to work at a Pineland Avenue site, a large amount of metal plumbing parts, brass, copper and steel was missing. The last time he had seen it was Oct. 31. Because the estimated value of the metal was more than $1,500 the case was turned over to detectives.

Counterfeiting — A clerk in a Clyde’s Market on South Main Street called police when two men tried to pass a fake $20 bill. She said the texture didn’t feel right and told the men. They ran. When officers investigated, they recognized the men in a photo taken of them in the store. They are being sought.