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Man Arrested For Impersonating Veteran In Leominster

LEOMINSTER (CBS) - As drivers passed through the Twin City Shopping Center in Leominster, a man held a sign "Homeless veteran anything helps."

"We owe them so much. I would be happy to give to them," said one resident.

But, Leominster Police said Jeffrey Alajajian was impersonating a vet.

"That's abusing veteran," said another resident. "You know it's a veteran and you realize it's not, it makes you really mad."

Officers received a tip that the man holding the sign was using someone else's name and had three outstanding warrants. When they questioned Alajajian , the 30-year old admitted he never served.

"It's an honor to serve," said Dan Giannini, an Army veteran, who served in Vietnam.

"Something like that is a disgrace. I tell you that guy has had a lot of nerve to do that."

A police officer remembered a fairly new law called the Stolen Valor Act.

"A lot of guys who work here are veterans so they were obviously concerned," said Lt. Charles Doherty of the Leominster Police Department.

Alajajian can be charged under the act because he was making money as a result of saying he was a veteran.

"It's the first time I've seen it used since it was passed in 2015," said Lt. Doherty.

Another man who served in Vietnam had seen Alajajian asking for help.

"He wasn't a vet. I didn't know. I felt sorry for him," said the man. "He should go to jail."

If convicted, Alajajian faces up to a $1,000 fine and a year in prison.

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