SPOKANE — Police jailed the wrong woman for three days after another woman used her name when she was arrested and cited for shoplifting.
The ruse was discovered after a store security guard took a photograph of the shoplifting suspect, who had no identification on her. The picture eventually confirmed that the Spokane County Jail had the wrong woman, county sheriff’s spokesman Cpl. Dave Reagan said.
"It’s just another way identity thefts cause people harm," Reagan said Wednesday, declining to name the woman who was wrongly jailed.
Detectives are trying to find the woman who was issued a citation for shoplifting by a security guard at a Tidyman’s Supermarket on Oct. 9, Reagan said.
The suspect had no identification, but gave a name to the guard, who wrote it down on the criminal misdemeanor citation for theft.
When that woman failed to set up a court date, a judge issued an arrest warrant, Reagan said.
The woman whose name was on the citation was arrested and jailed until jailers discovered the deception and notified a detective, Reagan said.
"It’s important people protect their identity for a variety of reasons," Reagan said. "They can deprive you of the money in your checking account, your credit or your freedom in some instances. It’s all identity theft."
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