An arrest warrant affidavit filed in Lane County Circuit Court describes an alleged “quick change” scammer who fooled a Eugene cashier and is said to be part of a group that has been hitting stores nationwide for the last two years.

Lulugi Rostas, 30, was charged Tuesday, Sept. 22, with first-degree theft.

She is suspected by a security investigator of being part of a two-person team “presenting large sums of cash, asking cashiers to count and stage the money, then retrieving it under the pretense of recounting — during which they discreetly remove a portion before completing the transaction.”

Rostas is alleged to have visited a TJ Maxx store June 1 in Eugene, counting out $2,300 to a cashier before taking the money back.

Her recount allegedly involved discreetly folding bills and palming them with her left hand before handing back a greatly reduced amount to the cashier. A later register check found it short by $1,800, states the affidavit by Eugene police detective Derek DeWitt.

Rostas is alleged to have exited the store with $2,287.71 in merchandise.

DeWitt cites video evidence and information from a retail crime investigator employed by The TJX Cos., the parent company of TJ Maxx and other stores like Marshalls.

The TJX Cos. investigator provided images from “separate incidents” to provide a clearer view of a suspect, stating she had “traveled through Oregon and Washington that weekend and impacted multiple locations in his market area,” according to the affidavit.