A former Newton firefighter is accused of conducting a return scam at hardware stores in Framingham, Woburn and Dedham, netting thousands of dollars in false returns, authorities said.The Metrowest Daily News said Judge Jennifer Stark did not hold John P. Sheehan, 31, of Newton, at his Framingham District Court arraignment on Wednesday, but ordered Sheehan to stay away from the Lowes stores in Framingham, Dedham and Woburn.According to a Framingham Police report, officers began an investigation into the theft scheme in June.Store security said a man, they believed to be Sheehan, was conducting a return scam.“He is seen on video, walking in empty-handed and going to the tools department,” police wrote in the report.In the tools department, the video shows Sheehan putting tools in a carriage and then bringing them straight to the returns department at the store. He then uses a receipt from a previous purchase to return the items.Police wrote that he committed the scheme several times in April in Framingham, where he would return tools worth more than $500 and $300 on different dates and getting refunds on a credit card.Store security said he conducted the same scam in Woburn and Dedham. In all, Sheehan got more than $2,500 in fraudulent returns, police wrote.Store security tracked Sheehan to Newton, where they found Google images of him as a firefighter. When Framingham Police contacted the Newton Fire Department, they were told Sheehan had been fired in 2015 due to stealing and drug use, police wrote in a report.Police tried to contact Sheehan numerous times, but he did not return any phone calls. They obtained a warrant for his arrest, and he went to Framingham District Court on Wednesday on his own to be arraigned.Police charged Sheehan, of 73 Carver Road, Newton, with three counts of larceny of more than $250 by false pretense. Stark released him, ordering him to return to court on Nov. 15 for a pretrial conference.Get the WCVB News App