A man who grabbed a $13.99, 18-pack of Bud Light cans and ran from a local convenience store early Saturday morning is facing a 20-year sentence if he is caught.

Detective Chris Bernal of the Beeville Police Department said the thief’s big mistake was pushing the clerk at the Texas Star at 1200 W. Corpus Christi St. to the floor.

That turned a Class C misdemeanor into a robbery, a second degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in state prison and a $10,000 fine.

Bernal said investigators are in the process of getting access to the images the security camera took of the incident and an arrest could follow.

The detective said it was just before 1:38 a.m. Saturday that the 42-year-old female clerk saw a man walk in and head to the cooler. The man was Hispanic, about 5 feet 6 and weighing about 140 pounds. He wore blue denim shorts and his head was shaved.

The clerk said he was between about 18 and 25 years old.

“She had a bad feeling,” Bernal said, “so she walked over and blocked the front door.”

When the thief reached in a grabbed the beer and headed toward the door the clerk shouted, “Don’t you dare take that!”

The thief ran toward the door and the clerk tried to block him so he pushed her and she fell to the ground.

Officers gathered later that morning for the annual Diez y Seis Parade laughed when they told the story.

“You touch a victim during a theft and it becomes a robbery,” said Reserve Sgt. Reagan Scott. Scott worked as a detective and was the assistant police chief of the BPD before taking another job.