MANCHESTER — Police are looking for a man in a shoplifting case gone bad, otherwise known as a strong-arm robbery, Wednesday night at Rite Aid on Elm Street.

Just after 5 p.m., a man entered the store after smoking a cigarette outside. Michael Dobe, the store’s loss-prevention employee, followed the man at a distance and watched as he took a $60 box of teeth-whitening products and tucked them into the front of his jeans.

The shoplifter left the store without paying for the merchandise, but Dobe caught up to him outside. The man gave back the stolen merchandise, but when Dobe asked him to return to the store, police said he pushed Dobe in the chest and wrestled with him.

The shoplifter wriggled out of his black sweatshirt and black T-shirt — with the words “Kokonuttz Sports Bar” on the front — in the tussle with Dobe, leaving both behind before fleeing.

Police said he also was wearing dark-colored sneakers and was last seen running east on Pennacook Street.