SPRINGFIELD – For the second night in a row, a bandit on a spree hit two more convenience stores on Wednesday. At one of the stores, he met someone who was his match: a fed-up store clerk who had a handle on the situation.

Police think the man has robbed or tried to rob eight stores since Jan. 8. At the Express Lane at 2744 E. Chestnut Expressway, the persistent robber didn't get away with anything except a nice bruise. That's because a brave clerk made it clear she wasn't going to have it in her store! She hit him with a broomstick and chased him out of the store.

"It's just one of those things that come with the territory," said Curtis Jared, chief operating officer of Cody's Convenience Stores, which just bought Express Lane stores in December.

Newly released surveillance store photos from Wednesday night show the bandit has trimmed his beard since his previous robberies.

"We'll show it to the media and someone will recognize that guy -- 'Hey, it's my next door neighbor,' or 'Hey, that's a guy I work with,'" said Officer Grant Story, a spokesman for the Springfield Police Department.

With many convenience stores moving to high-tech surveillance, it's getting more clear who is responsible for what. Convenience store owners are adding more cameras, and they're taking snapshots of anyone and everyone who walks up to the counter.

"The robberies we're looking at, we may be looking at somebody that has determined in their mind they are going to do this until they get caught, and certainly we plan to catch them," said Story.

The beating with a broomstick wasn't enough to send this thief home for the night. Police say he quickly moved south to the Kum N Go at 2404 E. Sunshine St., where his holdup was successful. That's where the new surveillance photos are from

Story says police have had several leads to follow-up on but hadn't made any arrests by Thursday afternoon.

The robber is white, appears to be in his 40s, has salt and pepper hair. On Wednesday night, he wore an orange hat and tan jacket, and drove off in a '70s Monte Carlo.

Here's the list of robberies that the man may have committed:
--1/08/08 at 9:37 p.m. - Little Caesar's Pizza, 615 S. Scenic Ave.
--1/08/08 at 9:48 p.m. - Go Convenience, 811 E. Division St.
--1/12/08 at 9:23 p.m. - Rapid Roberts, 3165 N. Glenstone Ave.
--1/13/08 at 9:30 p.m. - Village Mart, 1450 N. Glenstone Ave.
--1/15/08 at 8:29 p.m. - Food Mart, 4191 S. Scenic Ave.
--1/15/08 at 8:41 p.m. - Fast-N-Friendly, 2745 S. Kansas Expressway
--1/16/08 at 9:27 p.m. - Express Lane, 2744 E. Chestnut Expressway
--1/16/08 at 9:11 p.m. - Kum & Go, 2404 E. Sunshine St.