SAN DIEGO -- A man punched another in the face Thursday in La Mesa and stole his iPod, police said.

The victim got off a trolley about 8 a.m. on La Mesa Boulevard and walked to the 4800 block of Nebo Drive, where the robber and another man, both of whom appeared to be in their mid- to late teens, approached him from behind and asked him for the time, according to police.

When the pedestrian looked up, one of the men hit him in the face and yanked his portable music player out his hand.

Medics took the victim to Grossmont Hospital for treatment of a facial laceration, police said.