NIAGARA FALLS—A debt collector ambushed by three young men was beaten and robbed of nearly $500 at about 4 p. m. Friday in the 1100 block of North Avenue, police said.

The victim, who works for a Pine Avenue business, told police he was accosted by three men, one with a handgun, and pepper-sprayed before being kicked and punched repeatedly. The attackers made off with the man’s wallet and fled toward nearby railroad tracks, where the partially emptied wallet was later recovered. The victim was treated in Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center for cuts and hearing problems.