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GREENSBORO — Two men dressed as Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers robbed three people in a West Avenue home Thursday night, first requesting identification from the apartment’s Hispanic occupants, then emptying their wallets.

Police say the men, dressed in black clothing and wearing reflective vests reading “Police — ICE,” were walking around outside 3838 West Ave. about 10:15 p.m. Thursday .

When one of the apartment’s occupants went outside to confront them, the men showed him a tabloid newspaper that publishes photos of wanted fugitives, explaining they were looking for one of the fugitives featured, said Greensboro Police Lt. J.R. Franks.

The three men in the apartment then allowed the purported law enforcement officers to come inside. The alleged impersonators asked to see identification and took an unspecified amount of money out of the victims’ wallets.

The suspects were seen driving a 1990s-model silver Dodge Caravan, according to police.

Such incidents are rare but do happen sporadically, police say. In March 2008, two men employed as private security guards were charged with unlawfully presenting themselves as police officers in incidents going back to 2005, including traffic stops, searches and arrests. The same month, another man was arrested after police say he tried to pass himself off as a Guilford County deputy.

Contact Sonja Elmquist at 373-7090 or sonja.elmquist@news-record.com