CHICAGO (CBS) — Exclusive video obtained by CBS 2 shows some people dressed as police officers, and not for Halloween – they were burglars.
As CBS 2’s Marissa Parra reported Saturday, the burglars targeted seniors in the Southwest Side’s Clearing neighborhood this week. And the victims told Parra that police told them this was not the first time.
Neighbors said the first clue that something wasn’t right was that in the days before the crime, they saw someone driving slowly down the street taking pictures of houses. Afterward, they found their way into their victims’ home while posing as police officers.
POSING AS POLICE
These are no Halloween costumes, these are burglars
CBS 2 has the exclusive look at crooks targeting senior citizens pretending to be officers before stealing
in Clearing, Chicago | @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/AcUw5GiPfU
— Marissa Parra (@MarParNews) October 30, 2021
The burglars’ fake police uniforms that look grey on video above are *actually black* btw
You can see the camera distorts the color of the *real* Chicago Police officers’ uniforms who arrive after, too@cbschicago pic.twitter.com/akBWZjNFbj
— Marissa Parra (@MarParNews) October 30, 2021
Their targets were an elderly couple in their 90s and their daughter.
“I thought he was police. I thought it was safe,” Ann Robertson, 91. “He had a round circle that said, ‘Police.’”
Neighbors shared video of a black truck with no license plats hovering around their neighborhood. Minutes later, one man was seeing hopping out and ringing Robertson’s doorbell.
Robertson said the man told her, “I have to come in and check your pipes.”
The man was wearing a sweatshirt that said “police” and flashed what looked like a real badge as he pushed his way in.
“He put me in a chair and he pushed me in front of the sink,” Robertson said.
With a shaking voice, Robertson relived the moments two other men entered her house – claiming to be undercover.
“I walked into the bedroom and I saw the three men in my bedroom and I said: ‘What are you doing here? Get out!’” Robertson said.
The men’s pockets were stuffed with Robertson’s things.
“My grocery money, my prescription money, my gas money, my utilities money – I had enough money for a whole month,” she said. “I was flabbergasted. Everything was gone.”
In a matter of minutes, the crooks made their escape.
“It just happened so fast,” Robertson said.
But the 91-year-old and her daughter, Katie Sigafoose, said they are too scared now even to welcome trick-or-treaters this Halloween. They instead posted a note on top of a candy bowl, which reads in a sober warning, “We were robbed.”
“I don’t want this to happen to somewhere else. It’s not fair,” Sigafoose said. “People should trust and be trusting, but you can’t trust people.”
Aside from terrorizing and stealing from senior citizens, these crooks were also committing a Class 4 felony. Impersonating a police officer carries a penalty of up to three years in prison under Illinois law.
If anyone has any information, they are asked to contact police or submit a tip anonymously online at CPDTIP.com.