Sonora, CA…On Friday January 26, 2018, just before 1:30 PM, Sonora Police Officers were dispatched to Grocery Outlet (685 S. Washington Street) for a report of a shoplifter being detained by store employees. Officers arrived on scene to investigate the theft and arrested the male suspect. The suspect had no form of identification on his person, but provided officers with a name and birth date. Officers were unable to locate a match for the name given and transported the suspect to the Tuolumne County Jail.

Officer Bowly researched the name provided by the suspect and found a match. Officer Bowly was able to determine the suspect arrested was not the person he said he was. The suspect then provided a second name as his identity and Officer Bowly was able to determine the arrested suspect was not that person either. Jail staff finger printed the suspect via Live Scan and were able to determine his true identity as Zakary Dean Howerton, 27 years old of Sonora. Howerton was found to be on CDC Parole. Howerton was booked on charges of false Impersonation, Petty Theft and was placed on a parole hold.