2 Arrested Weeks After Acworth Assisted Living Facility Theft

Two Woodstock women were arrested this week in connection with multiple burglaries at assisted living facilities, one of them in Acworth.

Candace Janet Ballard, 31, and Jayne Cherelle Phillips, 23, are in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center, each charged with three counts of burglary and two counts of credit card fraud, Cobb County Police Sgt. Dana Pierce said this afternoon in a news release.

Cobb investigators were led to the suspects after a report of an Oct. 13 theft at Acworth's Heritage at Brookstone Assisted Living Facility, 5235 Stilesboro Rd. 

According to Pierce, the suspects targeted Heritage and other residential communities like it "while attempting to find placement for an elderly relative."

During or after tours of the facilities, one woman would enter unoccupied residential units and swipe jewelry, credit cards, computer equipment and other items of value.

The stolen credit cards were used to make purchases in Cobb, Cherokee and Fulton counties, Pierce said.

Authorities found the stolen goods inside the duo's Woodstock home Tuesday, when armed with a Cobb County arrest warrant, Cobb and Cherokee authorities arrested both suspects without incident.

"Currently," Pierce said, "Cobb County Police detectives are working with other law enforcement agencies in hope of identifying other victims, so that they can return jewelry that was recovered at the residence of the two suspects. These items may have been taken from other assisted living facilities in other jurisdictions to include Cobb, Cherokee or Fulton counties."

If you have information about the Acworth theft or others across metro Atlanta, call your local law enforcement agency or the Cobb County Police Department Criminal Investigations Unit of Precinct 5 at 770-499-4185.