Three men in their 20s are accused of beating and robbing two men in separate attacks near the Red Line on the North Side.



The first attack occurred shortly before midnight Monday near the Thorndale station in the 1100 block of West Thorndale Avenue, police said. A man told officers officers he boarded a southbound train at Morse to go to work with his friend and saw the three drinking and screaming profanities.



The two left the train at Thorndale, but the suspects followed them and started kicking one of the men and punching him in the face and back of the head before fleeing with his backpack, police said.



The victim went to a CTA attendant and called 911, according to police. Emergency crews got to the scene and the victim was taken to Weiss Memorial Hospital for treatment, police said. There were no reports of the friend being injured or robbed.



Officers searched the area and found the three suspects near Winthrop and Thorndale avenues after they learned of a second robbery that happened around the same time, police said.



During that attack, the three confronted a man and took his cigarettes and lighter, then knocked him to the pavement and demanded money, police said. They went through his wallet, took his debit card and continued hitting him while demanding his PIN. The victim gave them a fake number, police said.



"You are going with us to the ATM,'' a police report quoted one of the suspects as saying.



The victim saw a person walking on the north side of the street and began yelling for help, causing the three suspects to run west on Glenlake Avenue and then south on Winthrop toward Thorndale, where they were arrested at 11:55 p.m., police said.



Josimar Garita, 26, of the 5500 block of North Ashland Avenue, was charged with aggravated battery to police for spitting on an officer, armed robbery, and aggravated battery; David Ferguson, 24, of the 5400 block of North Ashland Avenue, was charged with robbery and armed robbery; and Julian Garita, 25, also of the 5500 block of North Ashland, was charged with armed robbery.