ALTON — Three teens who ran away from a juvenile home attacked a woman Tuesday night and tried to stuff her in the trunk of her car, Alton police said.

The woman was walking to her front porch when the teens allegedly grabbed her and put her in a choke hold about 8:30 p.m. They took her purse and demanded to know if anyone was inside her house, then starting hitting her, police said. The woman screamed and fought back as they dragged her back to her car and tried to put her in the trunk. She struck them with a camera tripod that was inside her trunk, police said, but she was beaten until she was unconscious.

Neighbors ran outside and scared the teens off. All three were arrested a short time later. It happened on Williams Street, but police did not say which block it occurred on.

The teens, ages 14 to 16, had only been in Alton for a few months, police said. Two are from Chicago and are on probation for felonies and the third is from Centreville. They had run away from the juvenile home on State Street a few hours before the woman was attacked. All were taken to the Madison County Detention Home following their arrests, although it wasn’t clear late Wednesday whether charges had been filed against them.