Woodstock police continue to investigate the case of a man robbed of a necklace and injured while doing yard work.

Police Chief John Lieb said officers were called about 10:17 a.m. Feb. 14 to West Jackson Street near South Hill Street, where an 85-year-old man reported that he was doing yard work at his residence when a white SUV drove up and stopped near him.

Lieb said the occupants of the vehicle talked to the man about selling or giving him jewelry.

However, “while in close physical proximity to the vehicle, an occupant of the vehicle was able to remove a necklace from the victim’s neck. The vehicle and occupants then fled the scene; the victim sustained injuries after falling as the vehicle pulled away,” Lieb said in an email.

Lieb said it the occupants of the vehicle reportedly told the man they were a Saudi family, but “there is no evidence that this was factual.”

Lieb said officers canvassed the area, and the Woodstock Police Department Investigations Division took over the investigation.

“One working theory is that this was a family of transient thieves who performed a crime of opportunity,” Lieb said, adding no similar incidents have been reported in Woodstock “and I do not know if other communities had similar incidents.”

Lieb said initial stages of the investigation indicate the vehicle had out-of-state license plates, entered Woodstock about half an hour before the incident and left the Woodstock area immediately afterward.

Lieb confirmed police used the license plate readers stationed around town to determine when the car entered and exited the city.

The investigation is ongoing, the police chief said.