The three men charged with violently assaulting and robbing a 29-year-old man near Eastern Market in August were part of a group of five people who have been linked to a string of robberies in the District, Police Chief Cathy Lanier said Thursday.

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Lanier revealed that 21-year-old Tommy Branch, 17-year-old Sunny Kutti and 18-year-old Michael Moore were part of a group of five people who were responsible for nine other robberies in the city on WTOP's "Ask the Chief" program.

Police say the three suspects brutally attacked Thomas Maslin, a solar energy analyst, as he was heading home from a birthday party at Tune Inn bar on Pennsylvania Avenue in August. He was later found unconscious on the front porch of a home.

Maslin has undergone two brain surgeries since the attack.

All three suspects now face armed robbery charges in Maslin's case, and are due back in court in November.