Police: 70-year-old man attacked by thief claiming to be undercover officer at Loop Blue Line stop

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A 70-year-old man was beaten and robbed on a CTA Blue Line platform at the Monroe stop in the Loop Tuesday morning.

A thief walked up to the man and said he was an undercover officer and that he wanted to see the victim's ID at about 2:57 a.m., police said.

The man pulled out his wallet, the robber tried to grab it and the victim resisted. That's when the thief punched the man in the eye and took off with the victim's wallet, police said.

The man was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in stable condition. No one is in custody.



The attack has some CTA riders concerned.

"I feel like it's hard because I would want to trust authority like that, but I think that's it's really unfortunate that this man is using that trust to take advantage of people," said CTA rider Amanda Yamasaki.

"You're not on the defensive probably because you think the person's a cop, so you're probably not gonna pull out the pepper spray," said CTA rider Erika Magnus.

For some, better security on the trains can't come fast enough. Last week, the city announced plans to add 1,000 HD cameras and upgrade 3,800 more across the CTA system in the next two years, hoping to help catch more criminals.