Murfreesboro police have arrested suspect accused of impersonating Walmart clerk during busy Thanksgiving shopping.
The bizarre case involving an armed imposter put police on alert. It happened in a busy Walmart, and officers said the suspect posed as a store manager.
Staff at the Old Fort Parkway Walmart in Murfreesboro reported the suspect 31-year-old Justin Jones refused to leave the store.
"In this case we got called out to a very scary disturbance," said Sergeant Kyle Evans with the Murfreesboro Police Department. He said officers arrived to find Jones posing as a Walmart employee.
"Not only was he presenting himself as a manager to other customers, but also giving orders to other employees before another manager asked him who are you and what are you doing here," said Sgt. Evans.
The manager asked Jones to leave, but said he refused; So police were called and started asking questions.
They discovered that Jones had a loaded handgun with him. Jones never pulled the weapon and had a legal carry permit.
As for what witnesses said appeared to be his Walmart outfit? It wasn't clear where Jones got it, but the style of clothing is legally available.
"You can go on any online auction site and you can buy vests or name tags," said Sgt. Evans as he browsed his computer. "These are legitimate uniforms."
Detectives said that even after questioning him, they never found out why he did it. The case remained open.
Jones was booked in the Rutherford county jail on misdemeanor trespassing charges.
He since bonded out, and police were still concerned about his conduct - so much so, they sent out a statewide alert notifying other law enforcement agencies of the case and to be on the lookout for imposters during the busy shopping season.
NewsChannel 5 reached out to Jones, but he did not return our call for comment.
