A 29-year-old cellphone store manager says she will never be the same after a masked teenager robbed her at knifepoint inside a Metro by T-Mobile store in Co-op City.

Police say surveillance video from the store shows a masked teen entering the business on the morning of Jan. 2.

Kiara, the area manager at the Bartow Avenue location, said she was stunned to learn the suspect was only 17 years old.

“I have no words to express that a 17-year-old right now in this generation, they are doing this to survive, hurting other people, hurting their life, it’s insane,” she said.

Police say the suspect put Kiara in a chokehold. She said he stole about 20 iPhones valued at approximately $10,000 before fleeing.

“I started shivering, my heart was racing like I was crying and he said, do as I say and you will be fine,” Kiara said.

Kiara said she initially believed the suspect had a gun.

“At first, I thought he had a gun because his hands were like this underneath his hoodie. So, once I put the phones in the bag, the knife fell down from his hoodie.”

The robbery happened around 10:30 a.m. while Kiara was heating up her coffee. Her emotional support dog, Luna, was also inside the store at the time. Kiara said the suspect ordered her to put the dog in a back room.

“I did that first thing is because I don’t want him to hurt her because she’s my life,” she said.

Kiara said the experience shattered her sense of safety at work.

“I was afraid for my life. Yes, I have never felt like that over here because this is my safe space,” she said. “I have been here for a long time, and I never imagined my life that this thing would happen to me here. I did remember my parents because I’m the only child and I really thought at one point he might hurt me if I don’t say, like, you know, I will like, give you everything that you need.”

After the suspect fled, Kiara called police immediately.

“I won’t wish anything that happened to me to anybody else,” she said. “We are just here doing our job like I’m here to work. We have to pay the bills.”

The NYPD arrested the teen later that same day. Police said he is charged with robbery, grand larceny, criminal possession of a weapon, obstruction of breathing and criminal possession of stolen property.

Kiara said surveillance footage played a critical role in identifying the suspect and urged other Co-op City businesses to invest in high-quality cameras.

“That’s how we were able to, like, you know, his backpack and the other stuff,” she said. “So, we do need surveillance cameras to be rolling all the time.”

Police say they do not believe the Co-op City robbery is connected to a separate robbery reported Tuesday at a Total Wireless store in Soundview, where a worker was attacked by a group of masked men.

Kiara said the trauma continues to affect her daily life.

“I don’t feel safe here anymore because I’m always like, oh, who’s coming in? Who’s coming out? I have to be very careful now,” she said. “Every second, every like nine hours of my life I’m here so since that day, Friday, I haven’t been able to sleep properly. Like, it just gives me flashbacks.”