NORTH COLLEGE HILL, Ohio —  Two Boy Scouts and their fathers selling Christmas trees were knocked to the ground by three men with sawed-off shotguns who took about $350, police in this Cincinnati suburb said. Both adults and one boy also were punched.

"At first I thought it was just a little joke, but then, when I saw the gun, I was terrified," said John Hancock Jr., 13, of Troop 393. "And after I saw the gun this guy just punched me right here and it knocked me down," the boy said, pointing to his face.

The men were last seen running down a nearby street after the robbery Monday night.

"They were gutsy enough to not have masks and stupid enough to hit a kid," said police Sgt. Robert Kidd. "What kind of man hits a kid?"

A business owner has offered to replace the boys' money.