Police are investigating after a man reported being punctured by a needle affixed to the trigger of a gas station nozzle at a Chicago Ridge gas station Monday.

       Shortly after 7 p.m., a man squeezed the handle on a gasoline nozzle at a Shell Gas Station near the intersection of 111th Street and Ridgeland Avenue and 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, the needle contained an “unknown” white powder, it said.

       The man 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 asking people with information or similar experiences to contact the Chicago Ridge Police Investigations Division at 708-425-7831.

       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.”

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