An Alta woman’s decision to give false identification when she was arrested Monday is wreaking havoc on the life an innocent woman.

Heather Michelle Jones is “being actively sought” on a felony charge of giving false information to a peace officer and obstructing a police investigation after identifying herself as one of her childhood friends, according to Dena Erwin, Placer County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman.

Jones is also wanted on an outstanding $20,000 warrant for driving under the influence charges.

On Monday, Sheriff’s officials said Jones verbally identified herself as Jamie Susan Owens when deputies pulled her over for false registration tags on the vehicle she was driving. Upon searching and further investigation, deputies also reportedly located prescription narcotic drugs in Jones’ possession. However, Jones did not have a prescription for them.

Authorities also reportedly found presumptive cocaine in the vehicle alone with other drug paraphernalia.

Jones verbally identified herself as Owens and had enough information to pass herself off as a woman she had known since childhood, Erwin said.

Jeff Ausnow, Placer Sheriff’s spokesman, said Jones had Owens’ middle name, birth date, address and a similar hair and eye color, and weight listed in a database that officers check.

Jones was booked into Placer County Jail as Owens, but was bailed out before her fingerprints were returned from the Department of Justice.

Ausnow said normally fingerprints are returned within hours, however, Jones was bailed “very quickly.”

When the fingerprints were returned, authorities were able to identify the actual suspect as Jones, a 34-year-old Alta woman.

On Wednesday, Owens said she spent the day fielding calls from friends, co-workers and family members asking her what had happened after reading a report in Wednesday’s Auburn Journal.

The Journal’s Wednesday report identified Owens as being arrested on drug-related charges, based on a report included in the Sheriff’s log. The report was available for public viewing Tuesday. It has since been removed from the log, Ausnow said.

Owens said Jones was a childhood friend and had known her for about 28 years. She said she did not have contact with Jones for the past six to eight months and does not know why she would use her name.

“Our families were close and her parents were like my second parents,” Owens said. “We did grow up together but I haven’t been close to her in years.”

Owens, a single mother of two, said she felt “totally violated” when her name was reported to have been in possession of drugs and arrested on those charges.

“It just seems like, how can this happen?” Owens said. “It’s a huge injustice.”

The Journal's Jenifer Gee can be reached at jeniferg@goldcountrymedia.com or post a comment.