Four Men Charged With Police Impersonation Ruse In DuPage County
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Four young men have been charged after a 19-year-old allegedly impersonated a Winfield police officer earlier this week when he rang doorbells at homes in West Chicago, Winfield, and Wheaton.
Thomas Kozie, Luke Halstead, Corey Abendroth, all 19, and Khoung Dam, 22, have been charged with false impersonation of a police officer, according to the DuPage County State's Attorney's office.
Prosecutors said Kozie rang the doorbell of a home in West Chicago on Monday, wearing a suit and a fake police badge on his belt, and claimed to be Jeff Rushmore, an investigator with the Winfield Police Department, and was investigating a missing person report.
A short time later, he left the porch, and got into a car, where Halstead, Abendroth and Dam were waiting, and all four drove away. Later the same night, all four allegedly drove to other homes in West Chicago, Wheaton, and Winfield, where Kozie again rang doorbells, claiming to be a police office, while Abendroth, Halstead and Dam waited in the car.
Two of the incidents were caught on Ring home security videos, and the four men were later arrested.
Video captured by a Ring doorbell shows the person alleged to be Kozie wearing a badge on his belt and using some type of police scanner or scanner app on his cell phone.
(1 of 2) Wheaton Police are investigating reports of this individual impersonating a police officer/detective on June 3 & 4. These images show the suspect Wheaton Police are seeking, a white male in his 20s displaying a badge. Anyone with info should call Lt. Cooley 630-260-2077. pic.twitter.com/U2EIyf7WoR
— City of Wheaton (@CityOfWheaton) June 5, 2019
At a bond hearing on Friday, Kozie's bail was set at $35,000; Halstead's was set at $20,000; Abendroth's was set at $7,500 and Dam's was set at $4,000. All four were due back in court for separate arraignment hearings next month.