Elderly vets thwart theft of poppy money

Two elderly Toronto veterans chased down and tackled a man who tried to steal the proceeds from the sale of Remembrance Day poppies.

The veterans were counting the poppy money on Thursday at a Royal Canadian Legion Hall near Danforth Avenue and Robinson Avenue in Scarborough.

Just before noon, a man with a gun walked into the legion through a back door and tried to steal the money, the veterans told police. 

"I said, 'What are you doing here?' He said, 'Give me all your bills'," said John Dietsch, 84.

"And at that point, I didn't see the gun at first. Then I made a rush for him. And we struggled, and I was knocked down."

Another veteran, Earl Gray, then wrestled the man to the ground, Dietsch said.

"I wasn't thinking," said Gray, 64, when asked why he tackled the man. "He had a gun, and John Dietsch grabbed him, and he went down, and then I was there, and … [it was] just instinct. I don't know. I just grabbed him."

The would-be thief was able to free himself and got away empty handed.

"[Gray] couldn't hold him," said Dietsch, who served in the North Atlantic in the Second World War. "And then he took off out the side door."

Police said the man appeared to be in his late 20s.