An unsuccessful purse-snatching attempt at North Avenue Beach landed three suburbanites in custody on June 19.

On that afternoon, a group of men approached Joseph D. Schaber, of Brookfield, after they allegedly witnessed him pick up a woman’s purse and put it in his backpack. Schaber, 22, was accompanied by Adam Colon, 36, also from Brookfield, and Christine Hudnut, 18, of La Grange Park.

The men demanded that Schaber open his backpack, but he denied that he had taken a purse, suggesting instead that he had picked up his shoe. Eventually he opened the bag, which contained the purse.

The offenders gave the purse back and left, and the witnesses followed them. Upon seeing that they were being tracked, Schaber allegedly pulled out a pink box cutter and told the men to back off. Police arrested the three offenders, and while in custody Schaber told officers that he had mistakenly thought that the purse belonged to Hudnut.

At around 1:00 a.m. on June 20, a man was attacked and robbed by three unknown suspects in the 1600 block of North Sedgwick Street.

The victim, 23, told police that he had been approached by a man who asked him for cigarette, at which point another man came out from behind a car and attempted to push him to the ground.

A physical altercation ensued and the victim hit the attacker in the face. Another offender emerged and the group beat the man and took his BlackBerry, valued at $700, before fleeing.

All of the men were reportedly wearing diamond earrings and one of the offenders had a cross tattooed on his lower right arm.

While looking out of a friend’s apartment window in the 200 block of West Evergreen Avenue during the late evening of June 16, a woman observed an unknown female pouring a liquid substance onto the front seats of a car parked on street.

The witness called out to her and the offender fled. The woman went to tell her friend and when she returned to the window the car was on fire. The witness told police that the suspect fled in a black Sedan.

Police arrested Syed F. Ali, of Villa Park, for damaging city property while driving. Officers patrolling the 1600 block of North Lake Shore Drive just after midnight on June 20 observed Ali, 21, break off the arm of a gate as he exited a Chicago Park District parking lot in a Cherokee Jeep. Ali left the lot but was pulled over and put into custody by the officers shortly after.

Three suburban men were arrested for repeatedly shining a laser pointer at a police helicopter on the evening of June 18.

Police apprehended Alvin T. Kang, Mark P. Lawrence and Jeremy A. Smith on the rooftop of a building in the 400 block of West Menomonee Street, where they had been allegedly pointing a green laser pointer into the cockpit of the patrolling helicopter.

Upon seeing the officers, Kang reportedly jumped over a small fence and threw an object believed to be the laser pointer. Police were unable to relocate the item.

The three men, from Northbrook, Winnetka and Skokie, respectively, were put into custody on charges of reckless conduct.

On the evening of June 16, a 64-year-old man was approached by an unknown male suspect who asked him for a dollar in the 2000 block of North Halsted Street.

When the man took out his wallet, the offender began punching the man’s head and snatched the wallet, which contained $18 in cash and various ID and bank cards. According to the report, the victim sustained a small cut over his eye but refused medical attention.

At around 6:15 p.m. on June 18, someone reported to police that they had just witnessed a man break the back passenger-side window of a car and take a black bag from the vehicle, which was parked in the 1400 block of North Lake Shore Drive.

Officers relocated to the 1500 block of North Sedgwick Street, where they picked up 40-year-old Rodney L. Smith, who was later identified by the witness as the man who broke into the car.

While in custody, Smith, of the 1100 block of West Erie Street, told police that he had taken the bag — which contained a camera and some papers — because he was homeless.

A custodial search of the suspect allegedly revealed that he was a carrying a screwdriver and a glass pipe containing crack cocaine.

An unknown male offender approached a man walking on the 400 block of North Dearborn Street and demanded that he hand over his phone around 3:30 a.m. on June 18.

The victim, who told police that he was confused at the time, held out his iPhone and the man grabbed it before fleeing in a gray Toyota Camry.