LINCOLNTON, N.C. -- Sandi Isenhour said she won't forget the thief who was so chummy with her. She said if he comes back to Falls Superette on Highway 150, she won't be as welcoming as she was the last time he stopped into the Lincoln County store.

Wednesday afternoon, the man that investigators identified as Tony Tomlinson of Icard walked into Falls Superette, grabbed some food and struck up a conversation with Isenhour.

“He seemed to be trustworthy. He told me he was waiting on his girlfriend to bring his wallet. That’s why he was just going to shop a little bit until she got here,” Isenhour said.

Instead, investigators said he got bottled water and poured it on the floor.

The man called Isenhour over to clean it, and then surveillance tape shows him going behind the counter, grabbing cash and leaving – the clerk unaware of what had just transpired.

“It wasn't until about an hour later when I went to get ones (that I realized what happened),” Isenhour said.

By that time, the man investigators have dubbed the “H2O Bandit” was down the street. Authorities said he spent 40 minutes in the Country Corner, where cameras captured him hiding water bottles he emptied.

“Desperate times take desperate measures. A lot of people are out of work and need money,” the store’s owner said.

Investigators said they believe Tomlinson has hit Burke County stores the same way. They said there may be victims out there who don't know they've been taken by a slippery thief.