A 19-year-old man was beaten and robbed while he was lost in the woods off of North Grand Street in Cobleskill last Wednesday, said the Cobleskill Village Police.
Two men were arrested early Thursday morning and charged with robbery in connection with the incident.
Police said they received a 911 call from the man, who is from Schenectady, at about 6:30pm reporting that he was lost in the woods in the vicinity of 335 North Grand Street.
He said he was led into the woods by three men, who then assaulted him and forcibly took money and property from him, police said.
Police said that over $1,000 and some clothing items were taken from the man. The incident is not believed to be drug related.
The man was located by a responding patrol unit and was transported to Cobleskill Regional Hospital by the Cobleskill Ambulance Squad, police said. The man suffered minor injuries and was treated and released.
The victim, police said, reported that three men got him lost in the woods and then two of them began hitting him with tree branches, striking him in the head, arm, chest and leg. The two then demanded that the victim give him his money, and threatened to kill him. The victim gave them his cash and some clothing items.
The victim then fled through the woods and called 911 from a cell phone, police said.
The suspects were subsequently identified and located within a short period of time, police said, riding in a car in the village.
They were brought to the police station and questioned, police said. An investigation led to the recovery of some of the victim’s clothes at the suspect’s home, in addition to the recovery of the proceeds believed to have been bought by the suspects with the money taken from the victim.
Police said they arrested Andrew Hilts, 22, of Gloversville and Matthew Herrle, 25, of Cobleskill on charges of third-degree robbery at about 12:40am on Thursday.
The two men were arraigned in Cobleskill village court and sent to jail in lieu of $2,500 cash bail or $5,000 bond to return to court on April 6 for further proceedings.
The other man was not a participant in the woods and has not been charged at this time, police said.
The investigation is continuing at this time, police said.