Police question claim that men were kidnapped, robbed by trio posing as cops in Portage Park

CHICAGO - Police are questioning the validity of a report that two men were kidnapped Thursday in Portage Park by a group of people pretending to be police officers and driven nearly 20 miles across town.

“In their preliminary investigation to corroborate information, Detectives have serious concerns about legitimacy of what was reported to police,” Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Friday morning in a tweet. “Our investigation continues.”

The men, ages 65 and 55, told investigators they were sitting in a white van stopped at a traffic light at 11:37 p.m. in the 4000 block of North Milwaukee Avenue in Portage Park on the Northwest Side, according to police.

Three male suspects allegedly got out of another white van and forced their way into the victims’ vehicle, showing a badge and claiming they were police officers, police said. They allegedly handcuffed the men, bound them with duct tape and put them in the back of their own van.

Two of the suspects then left in the van they pulled up in, while the third drove the victims to the 100 block of West 94th Street in their own van, according to police. He took a cellphone and cash from the victims before they were able to get out of the vehicle.

The victims walked into the 95th Street Red Line station at 1:41 a.m. Friday and called for help, police said. Police and paramedics responded, but the men were uninjured and declined medical treatment.

No one is in custody as Area North detectives investigate.