SAN ANTONIO – Two West Side convenience store clerks are recovering from an especially rough night on the job.
San Antonio police said they fought with a pair of thieves who took two 18-packs of beer from the business early Friday morning.
Officers initially got a call from the store near Highway 90 and West Military Drive about some panhandlers. A few minutes later, the nature of the call changed to a robbery.
The clerks said two men entered the store and tried to leave with beer they didn't purchase.
"I hear this lady yell, and she's saying, 'Hey! Stop it!' You know? 'Y'all can't be doing that,'" said Savrin Price, who was inside the store buying a cold drink.
Price said the two thieves ran out of the building through a side door with the two employees on their trail.
Amanda Lujan saw things take a violent turn.
"They were all, pretty much, in a fist fight, a little brawl, what have you," she said.
Lujan said the workers were able to tackle one of the thieves, who fought back and hit the female clerk in the face.
"They were obviously drunk, disoriented. The punches that they were throwing were really slow, uncoordinated," Lujan said.
The pair was eventually able to make their way to their getaway car.
Police said in one final attempt to stop them, the female clerk pulled out an ice pick.
"And the lady, she stabbed the tire. I guess to slow them down," Price said. "All this over some beer. I mean, it's getting really bad."
While no one was seriously hurt, police say in general it's best not to put up a fight against criminals and it's better to give up your property instead of risking your life.