(Some of the property recovered from burglary suspects)
A traffic stop on August 9, 2022 resulted in the arrest of one adult and two juveniles in connection with several recent vehicle burglaries. Devon Welch (18), Dillon Welch (17), and Rickey Curlin (16) were arrested by detectives late Tuesday afternoon.
Detectives had been investigating a rash of vehicle burglaries which had been occurring in several neighborhoods throughout the county. Suspects in those cases had been seen on video and detectives requested assistance from the public for additional video to link them to other burglaries. That request was published through CCSO’s social media and as a result, citizens were able to provide detectives with home surveillance footage, which identified and linked the three to other burglaries.
While detectives were gathering evidence in this case, school resource deputies learned of an incident that occurred during Columbia High School’s orientation. During that incident it was determined that two of the suspects in the burglary case were in possession of a firearm on school property. One of the subjects briefly displayed the weapon in the CHS parking lot during an altercation. Although this was an isolated incident, our school resource deputies worked quickly with detectives to ensure the continued safety of the campus.
“I am so proud of our community for working with us to solve these crimes,” said Sheriff Mark Hunter in a statement. “This shows what can be accomplished when citizens work together with law enforcement. I also want to thank our detectives and school resource deputies for working so quickly to ensure school safety. We take any report of a weapon on our school campuses seriously and will work aggressively to keep our children safe.”
No other information is available at this time, as there are pending and active cases in other jurisdictions. Additional charges may be forthcoming as detectives continue to learn more information.
From Left: Dillon Welch, Rickey Curlin, and Devon Welch
