LEWISTON – Two Portland men were in the Androscoggin County Jail on Monday night, charged with robbing a 7-Eleven store clerk early Sunday morning.

Justin C. Stubbs, 21, and Nicholas R. Jones, 24, each was charged Sunday with robbery in the attack that left the clerk with wounds suffered when he was dragged by a car.

Police said Stubbs and Jones went to the Main Street store about 2 a.m. Sunday trying to buy beer.

When the 29-year-old clerk refused to sell it to them, Jones ran outside with two 12-packs of Heineken, according to a police report.

The clerk chased Jones outside and a confrontation ensued outside the store, police said. Investigators said the clerk was beaten by both men and that Stubbs stole his wallet during the fracas.

Police said the suspects then jumped into a car and sped away with the clerk still hanging from an open door. The clerk was dragged several feet before falling to the ground, sustaining bumps, bruises and scrapes.

The clerk was taken to Central Maine Medical Center, and police briefly closed the store while they began an investigation. Detectives were examining footage from surveillance cameras when they got a better lead.

The store clerk said the men who beat him were accompanied by a local woman. The clerk recognized the woman because she had recently been inside the store showing him a stab wound on her upper abdomen.

The story about the stabbing was familiar to police. On Friday, Dec. 3, police went to 82 Oak St. where they found a 20-year-old woman lying on a car and suffering from a stab wound. An arrest was made in that attack and the victim was hospitalized.

Police found that woman and Jones in a car on the Maine Turnpike. Stubbs was located shortly after that, and Detective Brian O’Malley arrested both men in the robbery.

The 7-11 clerk was treated for his injuries and later released from the hospital.