A group of young people robbed a 78-year-old man in St. Paul, according to police, and struck him in the head as he took his wallet back.

The man was standing in an alley behind his Merriam Park home about 7:50 p.m. Monday when five people approached and demanded his wallet, Police Chief Todd Axtell wrote as he commended officers for their handling of recent cases.

He would not hand over his wallet, but someone reached in his pocket and took it. It happened on Marshall Avenue, between Fairview and Snelling avenues.

There was a struggle and the man was smacked in the head when he took his wallet back, according to a police spokesman.

“This made the thieves angry, so one of them grabbed a sledgehammer from a nearby garage and threatened to destroy the victim’s car,” Axtell wrote. “He pleaded with them to go away and they did, after taking $10 and telling him that they’d come back and burn down his house if he reported the incident.”

But the man didn’t have to call police because one of his neighbors dialed 911 during the robbery, Axtell wrote. Officers quickly arrived and arrested three girls who were trying to get away.