SANTA FE SPRINGS — A man pepper-sprayed and punched a security guard who intervened in a theft Thursday at a Rite Aid store, police said.

A robber — described as a Latino man of about 30 years old, bald and wearing a black T-shirt — entered the store at Norwalk and Washington boulevards about 6:50 p.m., filled a handbasket with merchandise and tried to leave without paying, Whittier police Lt. Randy Inman said.

A store loss prevention officer confronted the thief, who sprayed the officer in the face with paper spray and punched him several times, Inman said.

The robber then ran out of the store with the basket of stolen items and fled in a U-Haul Ford F-150 pickup truck, police said.