Three men, including a veteran in his 80s, thwarted a would-be armed robber at an east Toronto Royal Canadian Legion who attempted to take the $10,000 in proceeds from their poppy drive.
"I'm very proud of them. I think it was just on the spur of the moment. Something hit them and they went for it," the Legion's Pat Shone said Thursday.
The men at the Robinson Avenue Legion branch, located on the Danforth in the city's east end, told police that an unknown man walked in with a gun at around noon while they were counting the money from their sales.
"We were just about to count the money and there were four of us in the boardroom over there," John Dietsch, 84, told reporters as a half-empty glass of beer sat in front of him.
Dietsch said that at first, he didn't see what appeared to be a handgun. "I said to the fella, 'What are you here for?' and he said, 'Give me all your bills,' so at that point, I went for his arm with the gun,' and we struggled and I went backwards and I was on the ground," he said.
"My other buddy there, he wrestled him on the ground. And then he chased him out to the street line, and he had no vehicle, so he just kept running up the street."
Earl Gray, a 65-year-old poppy campaign volunteer and Legion regular, was the guy who did the tackling. "He pushed one of our members down. We can't have this. The money belongs to veterans," he said.
The would-be robber left without any money.
Asked why he reacted the way he did, Dietsch, who served with the Navy in the North Atlantic in the Second World War protecting convoys, said: "Because of the time we served in the military, and the fact we'd been out all last week collecting money with the poppies that made me think, 'You're not getting away with this.'"
The money goes to support veterans, but also worthy community programs and institutions.
However, "In retrospect, the more I think of it, I was stupid," Dietsch said, who added he's more frightened now than he was at the time of the robbery.
"The police are always saying, 'You're getting held up, let them take the money. The money isn't as important as your life."
D-Day veteran Charles Kline told reporters: "I told (Dietsch) that he's wrong because's too old for that, but he knows now. It's starting to hit him."
But asked if he was proud of Dietsch, Kline said: "Oh yeah: He's my buddy."
The incident happened a day after thousands of Canadians gathered across the Greater Toronto Area and across Canada for Remembrance Day ceremonies honouring the country's fallen military heroes.
"I can't believe it, especially coming into the Legion," Dietsch said.
Investigators with 41 Division say they have a description of the suspect and are investigating the incident.
The suspect is described as a light-skinned black male, wearing a dark toque and dark clothing. He had a beard.
With files from CTV Toronto's John Musselman
