Hoax turned real? Man tells Chicago Ridge police he was pricked by needle attached to gas pump handle
It’s long been an urban legend, but Chicago Ridge police this week are investigating a report that a man was pricked by a needle when he grabbed a gas pump.
Police say the man reported being punctured by a needle affixed to the trigger of a gas pump nozzle shortly after 7 p.m. Monday at a Chicago Ridge gas station. It reportedly happened at the Shell station near the intersection of 111th Street and Ridgeland Avenue when he felt a needle poke his finger, according to an alert on the Facebook page for Chicago Ridge police. At the base of the needle, which had been stuck to the gas nozzle trigger with an adhesive, there was an “unknown” white powder, it said.
According to Chicago Ridge’s Deputy police Chief Jim Jarolimek, this is a “very bizarre, very strange occurrence” and police have been unable to find other similar incidents. This is the first time this has happened in Chicago Ridge, said Jarolimek.
The man pricked by the needle is a Chicago Ridge resident and was brought to a hospital and evaluated, but he wasn’t suffering any symptoms of exposure, authorities said.
Chicago Ridge police are working with the Illinois State Police Crime Lab to analyze the evidence collected. Police are trying to identify the needle, which is small and “obviously not a syringe,” said Jarolimek. The white substance had not been identified as of Wednesday.
Rumors and social media warnings about needles in gas station handles have been floating around for years, occasionally with speculation about the needles being infected with HIV. A 2019 analysis by the Poynter Institute’s PolitiFact described the claims as a “years-old hoax.”
Police are asking people with information or similar experiences to contact Chicago Ridge police at 708-425-7831.
