An alleged shoplifter hit two stores a few hours apart on Wednesday, January 12 before being found at a local pawnshop and lying to officers about his identity.

Matt Earl, Manager of Fastenal in Tazewell reported a suspicious male that had been seen several times traveling between Fastenal and Sears throughout the day on Wednesday.

After the initial report, Chief of the Tazewell Police Department located the man at a local pawnshop.

He initially lied to officers stating that his name was Billy Joe Johnson. He also rearranged the last four numbers of his social security number trying to confuse the officers.

After Chief Lamb and Officer Ronnie Maness confronted him about the lie, he confessed that his name was actually Billy Joe Feltner.

According to the arrest report Feltner said, “Okay man, I ain’t gonna lie to you, my name is Billy Joe Feltner and I got warrants on me out of here.”

A warrant check was done and the Claiborne County Jail confirmed that Feltner did indeed have a warrant on him. It was also found that he had new items from both stores in four separate bags.

Earl and Jacob Collingsworth of Sears were able to identify the items.

“We have a zero-tolerance policy at Fastenal for shoplifting,” Earl said, “We take pride in our workplace and the safety of our employees. This is the second time in six months that we have had this happen, and if it even happens again, we will again prosecute all persons involved to the fullest extent possible.”

Collingsworth agreed saying that Sears works on the same policy.

Feltner was arrested and transported to the Claiborne County Jail where he was charged with the warrant, theft under $500, criminal impersonation and possession of drug paraphernalia.

He will appear in court on February 24, 2011.