FULLERTON — A masked gunman wearing a skeleton costume pistol whipped a cell phone store employee and made off with merchandise Tuesday night, authorities said.

The robbery was reported around 7:50 p.m. at Verizon Wireless, 2221 W. Malvern Ave., Fullerton police Lt. Andrew Goodrich said.

After assaulting the male employee, the robber took an unknown quantity of cell phones from an inventory room and fled, Goodrich said. The employee declined medical attention.

A description of the robber was not immediately available.