MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. -- A barber who shares a name and birthday with an imprisoned man is asking for $1 million in damages after he said he was wrongly arrested three times in 17 years due to mistaken identity.

"Every day of my life, it's as though I could be locked up at any moment at any time," Keith Lamont Johnson said. "I keep talking and keep talking and no one listens and I end up in jail."

Johnson, 47, shares his name with a known felon who is now in a state prison for armed robbery, among other crimes.

The federal lawsuit filed names in the cities of Detroit, Woodhaven and Trenton and the counties of Wayne and Macomb as defendants, along with several named and unnamed law enforcement officials in each community.

Johnson said the first time he was mistaken was in Woodhaven. His car broke down and when police appeared, they arrested him.

Several days later, he appeared before a judge and had his fingerprints compared. The judge confirmed he was not the same Keith Johnson.

Johnson went through the same ordeal in Trenton. He was pulled over for not wearing his seat belt when police arrested him.

He said he had his clearance papers proving he was a different Keith Johnson. Police took him to jail.

A judge again ordered a fingerprint comparison to prove he was not the wanted felon.

Johnson said he never has met his namesake, who, according to the state corrections department Web site, began serving a state prison sentence for forgery in March and is not expected to be released before November 2009.

Johnson said to prevent from being arrested and thrown in jail again, he is going to have his Social Security number changed.