Valrico man uses dead person's name to sell scrap metal

TAMPA (Scrap Monster): A Valrico man was charged with using a dead man's name to sell stolen metal for scrap, Hillsborough sheriff's officials said.

Officials said a security guard found Thomas Aaron, 51, on the roof of a vacant Sweetbay grocery store in Valrico on June 7, throwing down pieces of the building's A/C unit. When the guard asked what he was doing, Aaron allegedly replied he was doing demolition work, gave his name as Roderick Branfield and drove away.

Detectives found that a man named Branfield had made more than 40 transactions at local scrap yards — and had died in 2014.

Using fingerprints and license plate numbers, detectives connected the man calling himself Branfield to Aaron. On June 15 the detectives arrested Aaron, who they said admitted that he used Branfield's identity to sell metal because the metal was possibly stolen.

Aaron was charged with more than 40 felonies and was jailed, officials said.

Courtesy: www.tampabay.com