Police
investigating money-changing scam reports at local businesses
From Staff Reports
Elizabethton police are advising merchants to be
wary of a purported money scam involving two female subjects.
Police officers responded to calls by employees
of two businesses
Friday afternoon reporting two women claiming they
had given incorrect change to get additional money from the
clerks.
"We are concerned that other merchants have been
hit," said Greg Workman, detective with the department's Criminal
Investigations Division.
Police Captain Rusty Verran was dispatched to the
Blue Circle Market on Thursday afternoon on a complaint of fraud.
Verran spoke to store clerk Robert Jack Hughes
who stated that a female subject entered the business and asked
for help. He reported that the female gave him eight $5 bills
and stated that she needed two $20 bills. Hughes reported that
he gave her the two $20 bills and she walked away.
Before exiting the store, Hughes said the female
became argumentative and claimed he had given her one $20 bill
and one $1 bill. He advised that he argued with the subject
but gave in because customers were coming into the business.
A witness reported observing the female enter a
Ford Bronco with a Sullivan County license tag once she left
the store.
The subject was described as a white female with
shoulder-length dark brown hair, wearing a black sport jacket
and white pants. The woman also had a Northern accent, according
to the police report.
A clerk at the Discount Tobacco Store next to Blue
Circle also reported to police that a woman had entered that
business and purchased a pack of Camel Lights (price, $3.45)
with a $20 bill. She said she gave the female correct change
back from the purchase but the female had insisted the clerk
had only given her a $5 bill, a $1 bill and change.
The second subject was described as 5 feet, 6 inches
tall, approximately 150 pounds wearing blue jeans and button-up
shirt.
The two female subjects reportedly left the scene
in the Bronco.
