Three men administered a brutal beating in the CBD early Sunday morning to take a man's wallet and cell phone. About 3:45 a.m., a man and woman were walking in the 400 block of Carondelet Street. Video shows three men - one in cook's pants and one with a towel hanging from his belt - walking separately, then quickly surround the couple. The man is then hit from behind. Click through to watch the incident:

Whether resembling a young Ron Swanson or hiding under the cover of night, thieves can't hide from the watchful eye of surveillance cameras. New Orleans police are searching for three people wanted in connection with separate Central Business District and French Quarter thefts. 

A pair of early week armed robberies on opposite edges of the French Quarter have NOPD searching for suspects. In one incident, a man was forced to empty his pockets on Esplanade. In another that was caught on video, a man was robbed while sitting in his car in the CBD.

Parts of the CBD were closed off to traffic Monday morning as police investigated an unattended gym bag that raised suspicions. The bag was brought to the attention of police after 6 a.m. in the 800 block of Common Street, according to officer Garry Flot, a spokesman for NOPD.

An armed man stole a purse and a wallet from two people this morning at 1:05am. The robber is still on the loose, and the 8th District Police Station has drawn up a composite sketch from victims' reports.

Police are investigating a quartet of violent crimes that took place in New Orleans on Tuesday. A fight started with a weight and ended with a knife in the 7th Ward. Later, men were shot in the 7th and 9th wards. NOPD is also investigating the rape of a 15-year-old girl that was reported in the CBD. Click through for details:

The NOPD broke up a Texas-based prostitution ring Tuesday after tracking down a woman on the classified website backpage.com, according to police reports. A man and two women from Waco, Texas, were arrested Wednesday for allegedly bringing three women to New Orleans to work for sex out of a CBD hotel. One man, 23-year-old Eddie Sowells, faces human trafficking charges in connection with the case. 

A trio of thieves were feeling lucky on St. Patrick's Day after they made off with a woman's purse at a CBD bar. But the Sunday incident was caught on camera, meaning there might be no pot of gold at the end of these rascals' rainbow. About 1:40 a.m. at a watering hole in the 1000 block of Poydras, the three men engaged the woman in what police describe as a "casual conversation."

Owners of Singha Thai Cafe (413 Carondelet St.) woke up this morning to the news that the structure under construction above the eatery had collapsed into the well liked CBD eatery. Around 2 a.m., an unsound, four-story structure under construction next door failed, falling in through the roof of the cafe.

The food truck movement is rolling closer to reform.