Police have arrested a 26-year-old man believed to be responsible for several quick change scams in Lincoln.

The Wal-Mart Supercenter at 8700 Andermatt Drive suffered a $199 loss Jan. 3, when a man who paid for a $1 DVD with a $50 bill confused the clerk by pulling out different bills and asking to exchange them.

A man matching the suspect’s description later went to the Walgreens at 48th and O and appeared to try the same scam but did not get any money.

Lincoln Police Officer Mike Schaaf was reviewing video surveillance of one of the incidents and thought it looked like the suspect had left in a Toyota Matrix, said Officer Katie Flood.

Police began looking in motel parking lots for similar vehicles and, on Sunday, found a Matrix at Economy Lodge, 2410 N.W. 12th St., Flood said.

Police learned the vehicle had been stolen in Omaha Nov. 8.

Officers searched the room where Michael Ray Blair Jr. was staying and found clothing that matched what the suspect wore in surveillance videos, Flood said.

In addition to the Jan. 3 incidents, Blair is suspected of pulling quick change scams in Lincoln last summer, Flood said. Total loss from the businesses was $567.

Blair, a transient, was arrested and jailed on suspicion of four counts of theft by deception and seven counts of attempted theft by deception, Flood said. For the Matrix, he was arrested on suspicion of felony theft by receiving stolen property.

Blair also was arrested on a narcotics warrant from South Dakota, Flood said.

His girlfriend, Linda Futch, 45, who was with him at the motel, was arrested on a warrant from Iowa, Flood said. Police say Futch escaped from a correctional center there last month.

Reach Hilary Kindschuh at 473-7120 or hkindschuh@journalstar.com.