A group of about 20 teenagers swarmed and attacked a man and a couple in Halifax Monday.

At about 9 p.m., a man was walking in central Halifax, when between 15 and 20 teenagers surrounded him, said police. One of them, a boy, asked the man for a cigarette. Then the others began punching and kicking him, before making away with his cellphone. The victim sustained cuts and swelling.

Nearby, a few hours later, a group of youths approached a man and a woman who were walking together and asked them for a lighter. Then one boy and two girls beat the man with a steel handle from a broom, leaving his face cut open, police said. The others rifled through his pockets. He was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

One boy has been taken into custody, and the investigation is ongoing. The suspects are boys and girls in their early to late teens.