Erin Palmer, a clerk at the Le Mars Truck Stop, holds up the new sign posted by the store's cash register. "We are NOT a bank." The store's new policy is not to make change for people. The rule came about after a scam artist tried to walk away with $90 after asking to change ten $10 bills for a $100. The clerk caught the license plate number on his car, though, and police were able to track him down and arrest him and a cohort. [Click to enlarge]

Scott Richard Coxworth, 30, of Houston, Minn. and Christopher Wayne Swinger, 24, of Minneapolis, Minn. pulled a scam at the Le Mars Truck Stop, stealing $90, before heading out of Le Mars.

"One guy came in and said he had ten $10 bills and asked if he could change them in for a $100 bill," said Le Mars Truck Stop General Manager Kent Hanstein. "He kept his hand in his pocket the whole time. Then when she gave him a $100, he did a quick change and said, 'Oh, here, you only gave me a $10.'"

Seeing the $10 bill, the clerk traded him for $100 in change, but then realized something was amuck, Hanstein said. She called after him but he took off.

The clerk was quick enough to get the license plate number on their car, according to the Le Mars Police Department.

Officers caught the duo at the intersections of Highway 10 and Highway 60 as they were heading north out of Le Mars.

Coxworth and Swinger, who originally identified himself to the authorities as Matthew Scott Wilson, 32, of Rochester, Minn. were arrested and brought to the Plymouth County Jail.

A sum of money was found in the car, although police are not releasing the amount at this time.

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Authorities later found the duo had pulled a similar scam at the Sheldon Fareway Store at about 2 p.m., where one of the two men asked for change and eventually walked away with $90 that didn't belong to him.

In Plymouth County, Coxworth faces charges of theft in the fifth degree and is being held on a $325 bond.

Swinger, who falsely identified himself as Wilson, faces charges of providing false information to avoid prosecution and theft in the fifth degree, and remains in the Plymouth County Jail on $5,000 bond.

The Sheldon Police also charged both men with theft in the third degree, with an additional $2,000 bond.

Any local businesses that may have fallen victim to the two men is encouraged to contact the Le Mars Police Department as soon as possible.

Assisting the Le Mars Police in the investigation and arrest were the Plymouth County Sheriff's Office, the Sioux County Sheriff's Office, the Le Mars Police Department and the Iowa State Patrol.