SWEETWATER, Tenn. — An East Tennessee woman is facing several charges alleging she stole her twin sister's identity to avoid arrest in the summer of 2021.
Documents show that early in the morning on Aug. 8, 2021, Monroe County dispatch contacted Sweetwater Police Department Officer Jarren Turpeinen regarding an arrest he made on July 1, 2021.
A woman named Jerrica Morton had called in saying she was charged with prohibited weapons, possession of drug paraphernalia and failure to maintain lane, according to court documents.
However, Jerrica said she was not the person the officer had stopped. It was actually her twin sister, Kelsey Morton.
Later in the day, Turpeinen called Jerrica, who said she and her sister have nearly identical Social Security numbers with only one number different, according to the court documents.
Jerrica said Kelsey is addicted to narcotics, has used her name twice before to evade arrest and was charged with identity theft in November 2020.
Jerrica said she now had a failure to appear warrant out of Monroe County as a result.
The officer spoke with Monroe County prosecutor Dorothy Cherry who said her office would dismiss the charges and drop the warrant, according to court documents.
The investigation also showed Kelsey's Tennessee driver's license was revoked.
Kelsey will be charged with prohibited weapons, possession of drug paraphernalia, failure to maintain lane, criminal impersonation, driving on a revoked license and identity theft, according to warrants obtained by WBIR.