Men rob New Bedford store with sword

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WHDH) -- Surveillance cameras caught two armed robbers threatening a gas station clerk and getting away with money. One suspect had a sword.

Two men entered the store in the middle of the night. One man, wearing a black hoodies, pulled a knife on a clerk making coffee. The man then forced him back to the register to steal money and cigarettes with his friend.

As the clerk tried to comply and get the money, he was ordered to his knees. That’s when a struggle began.

“He felt that he was at a disadvantage if he was on his knees. He felt a little bit more threatened so he decided he was going to fight back,” said Tony Khalife, Petromart co-owner.

As the clerk fought with suspect No. 1, suspect No. 2 helped himself to the money in a second register. He stepped back, ready to leave, but saw the 6-foot, 2-inch clerk getting the best of the fight with his partner in crime.

The second suspect pulled a sword from his pants and waved it around yelling.

“He said ‘Stab him so we can leave’ because my clerk had him by the wrist,” said Khalife.

The cashier let go and the men ran off. A female cab driver was getting gas outside. She briefly followed the men down a side street, but they ran into a yard and got away.

“They’re total haul was $84, two packs of cigarettes and some cigars, a handful of cigars, and that was it,” said Khalife.

New Bedford police do not have any suspects at this point.