Arrest made in Gas Station Robbery

The Rabun County Sheriff’s Office reports that an arrest has been made in the armed robbery at Don’s Exxon.  On March 8, around 4:30pm deputies along with officers from the Mountain City Police Department and the Dillard Police Department responded to the gas station in reference to an armed robbery with one person injured prior to the suspect fleeing the scene.  After an investigation, the Rabun County Sheriff’s Office obtained a confession from Christopher Lon Welch on March 19, that the injury to his hand was self-inflicted and that no armed robbery had actually occurred. Warrants have been secured for the arrest of Welch for the false reporting of a crime and theft by taking as over $700 in cash was taken from the register.