Watch: Gay Couple Says Drunk Group Claiming to be Cops Attacked Them - and Responding Officers Let Them Go

A North Carolina gay couple allege that a group of men who appeared intoxicated and claimed to be police officers pinned them to the ground, refused to let them up, and accused them - without evidence - of theft, reports Charlotte, NC news station Fox 46.

The couple - Jordan Frey and Kenny Coppedge - say they were walking through Charlotte's South End on the evening of October 20 when they were approached by a woman who began chatting and walking with them in a friendly manner.

But a group of seemingly drunk men promptly appeared and accused the gay couple of stealing from the woman, Coppedge told the media.

"They accused me of stealing from her, put my arm around my back and threw me to the ground and started searching me and telling me he was a cop," recalled Coppedge.

"They just kept telling me that they were cops. They were cops and they were going to keep me there until they proved I didn't steal anything."

Photos accompanying the article showed abrasions and marks to Coppedge's faced and neck.

Those photos came from Coppedge's Facebook page, where he also posted additional details about the alleged assault.

"Last night at 8:30 pm my boyfriend, friend, and i were jumped and attacked by 3 men, they were accusing me of stealing from his wife, they repeatedly held me down to the ground as well my friend, finally let us go and then continued to attack us and hold us down, the 3 men kept saying they were cops from New Jersey, as soon as the Charlotte police arrived they got in their cars and drove off," Coppedge's Oct. 21 Facebook post read.

Added the post: "I am just sore, and Jordan has to get a staple put in his head. You never think it would happen to you, but it can."

In an Oct. 23 followup post, Coppedge expressed fear about hateful comments hurled at him and his boyfriend in the wake of the alleged assault. Calling such comments "just as scary as the men who attacked us," Coppedge went on to say that hateful trolling "makes me feel like there are multiple people out there just like them hiding behind a screen.

"This is why people who are attacked, raped, or assaulted never come forward because of negative people, it's easier to just keep quiet and move on from it."

According to Coppedge, the seemingly intoxicated men claimed to be off-duty officers from New Jersey. When local police officers came onto the scene, Coppedge said, their response was to take the men for a short time and then allow them to leave.

Coppedge thinks that their claim to be police officers may well have been true. "The way they were maneuvering us and the way that they pinned us down, it was like they were trained to do that," he told Fox 49.

Added Coppedge: "I want them to be charged."

Fox 46 reported that the local police department did not respond to requests for comment on the alleged incident and its reported handling by the department's officers.

UPDATE (Oct. 24, 10:45 a.m. EST):

On Oct. 24, Sandy D'Elosua Vastola, Public Affairs Director for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, contacted EDGE Media Network to offer the department's response to media reports on the incident.

The department stated:

"Through the course of the investigation, detectives obtained video surveillance of the incident. The video evidence revealed that the man who claimed to be arbitrarily assaulted initiated the altercation and was the aggressor in the incident."

More updates will be added as and when new information becomes available.