function test(str) { var counts = {}; var reg = new RegExp('[A-Za-z]'); for(var i=0;i<str.length;i++){ var char = str.charAt(i); if(reg.test(char) == true){ if(counts.hasOwnProperty(char)){ counts[char]++; if(counts[char] == 3) return char; }else { counts[char] = 1; } } } }