Two men who robbed a cellphone store in Paterson Wednesday afternoon escaped after being trapped inside.

Surveillance video shows the thieves entering a Boost Mobile store located on 10th Avenue with a gun and demanding cash and supplies. 

While they were inside, video shows Tommy Torrez, the store clerk, lock the back door and tell someone else to pull down the metal gate from the outside. The two men then pleaded for people to let them out. 

Paterson officers say they were dispatched within seconds and arrived within minutes when they received a call about the incident and mention of a gun. 

Torrez says the thieves found tools and escaped by dismantling a barred window in the back.He says it is the first time someone has tried to rob the store.

Last November, several cellphone store robbers were taken down by a single Paterson cop. Paterson Councilwoman Ruby Cotton says she supports the police and that they've made this area safer.