A man dressed as a woman to steal money from a Mooresville gas station where his father worked, and the father helped him do it, authorities said Wednesday.

The man, his father and his girlfriend, all China Grove residents, were charged with larceny and embezzlement by the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies responded to a call about a larceny at the Mystic gas station on Charlotte Highway in Mooresville. When they arrived, they found a large fire burning beside the structure and called the fire department. They were unsure if the fire was connected to the larceny.

Deputies were told that a man opened the cash register and stole the money inside while the clerk was pricing items in a cooler in another part of the store.

But when detectives interviewed witnesses and looked at surveillance video, they determined that the clerk was lying.

The video showed the clerk moving aside to allow a man wearing a woman’s dress and wig to steal money from the cash register.

The man in the dress, Rex Carlo Farmer of Meadow Creek Drive, China Grove, is the son of store clerk Rex Allen Farmer, also of Meadow Creek Drive.

Carlo Farmer’s girlfriend, Kayla Nicole Price, also of Meadow Creek Drive, knew that the father and son planned to steal the money, authorities said.

Allen Farmer showed his son how to open the register before Carlo Farmer went outside to put on a black dress and large dark wig to conceal his identity, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Once Carlo Farmer had the cash, he ran outside and set his wig and dress on fire next to the building to destroy the evidence, investigators said. The fire spread to a meter base on the building and a privacy fence.

Carlo Farmer and Price were found at their China Grove home with some of the cash from the business, investigators said.

Carlo Farmer was charged with misdemeanor larceny, conspiring to commit embezzlement by employee, burning of personal property and felony obstruction of justice. He is being held on a $25,000 secured bond pending his first court appearance.

Allen Farmer was charged with embezzlement by employee and conspiring to commit embezzlement by employee. He is being held under $10,000 secured bond pending a court date.

Price was charged with misdemeanor larceny and conspiring to commit embezzlement by employee. She is being held under a $5,000 bond.