A Spotsylvania man was incarcerated this week under a fake name, but jail staff soon discovered his true identity. This turn of events caused his list of charges to grow exponentially.

On August 11th at 1:40 p.m. Deputy J.K. Griffith responded to the Rappahannock Regional Jail for a forgery. Jail staff reported a current resident of the facility had used another person’s identity as he was arrested and booked. Deputy Griffith learned Arthur Williams III, 26, had been arrested for shoplifting in Fredericksburg on August 10th. Following up on the poor decision to shoplift, Williams gave the police officer a bogus name.

The bad decision train continued through Williams’ trip to the magistrate and the jail booking process as he forged and uttered the fictitious name on assorted legal documents. As you may have guessed, Williams had an outstanding warrant for a court order violation he was trying to avoid. His ruse worked for a short time, but jail staff soon discovered his true identity.

Deputy Griffith obtained and served seven warrants for forgery, seven warrants for uttering, three warrants for identity theft and one warrant for false information on a fingerprint card. Williams was held at the jail without bond.