A husband and wife and two others have been arrested in connection with a string of residential burglaries that occurred last summer.

Garrett Ashworth, Janet Welch, her husband, Curtis Anthony Tony Welch, and Jackson Kearns all face felony theft charges stemming from break-ins at local residences.

It started with the arrest of Garrett Ashworth, who faces felony charges in connection with multiple firearms stolen from a residence on Oak Creek Way, said Jarrett Simpson, investigator for the Dawson County Sheriffs Office.

According to Simpson, as Ashworths trial date approached, he decided to provide investigators with additional information.

We were then able to secure an arrest warrant for Janet Welch, he said. Welch has been charged with burglary of a residence on Bailey Waters Road.

Simpson said the connection between Ashworth and Welch was that Ashworth was dating Welchs stepdaughter at the time of the burglaries.

Welch then provided information that led to her husband, Curtis Welch, being charged with two burglaries in Dawson County one off Old Henry Grady Hwy., and second off Elliott Family Pkwy., Simpson said.

Curtis Welch is in custody at the Colwell Probation Detention Center in Blairsville for a Lumpkin County case. He has charges pending in Dawson County for the burglaries off Elliott Family Pkwy and Old Henry Grady Hwy.

Janet Welch is out on bond.

Jackson Edward Kearns also has been arrested and charged with one county of burglary and seven counts of thefts, according to Simpson. We dont expect him to bond out, he said.

Six guns were stolen from a private residence. Kearns is in the Dawson County Detention Center, and the case has been turned over to the district attorney. Kearns is expected to be indicted soon, Simpson said.

The information leading to Kearns arrest was obtained from Ashworth, Janet Welch, and Curtis Anthony Welch, the investigator said.

None of property stolen has been recovered.