PEOPLE BEING PEOPLE

This thief was trapped like a rat.

A burly Brooklyn gas station manager outmuscled a bumbling robber Tuesday - and then hit the store's panic button, locking the crook inside, police said.

Nick Ali was inside a glass-enclosed cashier's counter at a Gulf station on Utica Ave. in Crown Heights about 2 p.m. when he saw Martin Syldorthy, 48, stuffing cell phone chargers into a Burberry bag.

"I came out of the booth. Usually that's a bad idea," said Ali, 38, of Brooklyn.

But Ali's bad idea was bad news for Syldorthy, who got a tongue-lashing - and then a beating - from the courageous clerk.

"I'm busting my a-- here 18 hours a day so you can rob me?" Ali recalled barking at the bandit.

Ali said he pounced on Syldorthy as he reached into his pocket, fearing he was packing heat.

A wild struggle ensued. Syldorthy tried to get at the cash register, but the 6-foot-3 Ali gave him a run for his money.

"He tried to get into the booth," Ali said. "I pushed him back."

Ali eventually got the upper hand and beat Syldorthy to the cashier's-booth entrance. Ali said he shoved Syldorthy back and quickly entered the booth and slammed the door shut.

He then hit the panic button - which locked all entrances to the convenience store - and called 911.

"I hit a button and locked him in," Ali said. "That's why it's called a trapdoor!"

Syldorthy frantically tried to break free.

"He started kicking the [front] door," Ali recalled. "He shattered it, but it held - thank God."

Cops soon arrived and collared Syldorthy. He was charged with robbery and criminal mischief, a police source said.

Ali, a father of 2-year-old twin boys, said he's no hero - just a dedicated worker.

"I wish I had gotten famous some other way," he joked.