Two men were pulled from their rental van and beaten to death by an angry mob Tuesday evening after the vehicle mowed down three women while crashing into a South Side building, authorities said.

"I just saw some guys like they were going to make a U-turn, and then they went up on some people's yard over there,'' witness Will Smith told NBC-Channel 5. "Then I saw some guys getting in a van. I think they beat them up because it was one of their girlfriends they hit.''

At least six people apparently were involved in the beating, and four were being questioned by police late Tuesday, said Wentworth Area Detective James Michaels.

The dead men were identified by the Cook County medical examiner's office as Jack Moore, 62, of 3510 S. Rhodes, and Anthony Stuckey, 50, of 431 E. Oakwood.

A 17-year-old woman was in critical condition at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, an official said. The other two women--ages 18 and 26--were in fair condition at Mount Sinai Hospital, according to a nursing supervisor.

Investigators late Tuesday and early today were trying to piece together what happened, but offered this chronology:

The van, from Elite Truck Rental, was being driven east on 40th Street around 6:40 p.m. when it made a "drastic and improper" U-turn, lost control and slammed into the front of 3983 S. Lake Park.

The three injured women were either on the porch or in front of it, said Prairie District Capt. William Town, whose officers were interviewing the injured women at the hospital early today.

A group descended on the van, yanked the men from the vehicle and "jumped on the two guys," said Wentworth Area Sgt. Ricardo Mancha.

Some witnesses told reporters on the scene the van's occupants were hit with fists and bricks.

The driver's side window was broken at some point, but it wasn't immediately clear if the glass broke during the crash, or was shattered by an object thrown from the street, police said.

At some point an ambulance was called. Moore was transported to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:27 p.m., authorities said. Stuckey died at Cook County Hospital eight minutes later.

Daryl Dunn, who lives on the block where the incident occurred, told ABC-Channel 7 that he heard "a big boom," ran out and "saw the girls in front of the house and the guys had gotten beat up already."

DC

I guess you better drive a lot better when you drive down there! What do they do to you if you have a fender bender or scratch their car!

Wow, that is so scary. It's like something you'd just never expect to happen. So, one tragedy turned into 2 really. What a shame.

FH

How would you like to be the guy who had to pick that rental van back up.....I hope the guy who rented it took the insurance offered!