TORONTO - Kandiah remembers the man’s rough hand grabbing him by the back of the neck.
He remembers the gold chain he’s worn for more than 20 years being yanked clean off.
He remembers spinning around, swinging his cane and, finally, crashing to the ground.
But Kandiah, which is not the 63-year-old man’s given name, could only see his attacker through a thick veil of red dust. It’s how he’s seen everything since 2007, after the onset of complications from diabetes. He is legally blind.
He thinks he was targeted because of his disability.
“I walk with this,” he said, shaking the white cane with a bright red tip. “He must have been watching me.”
Despite the terror he now feels, he told the Toronto Sun he wants to speak out about Monday’s robbery, which happened around 5 p.m. in broad daylight.
“Our lives are all at risk,” he said Friday, talking about brazen robberies in the Warden Ave. and Finch Ave. E. area where the incident occurred.
“The man, the way he ran, the way he snatched it, he was in need of money,” he said. “People are stealing everywhere.”
But where Kandiah’s eyes failed, an eye in the sky watched unblinking, recording everything.
Toronto Police obtained security footage that captured nearly the entire incident. It shows the assailant, a young black man, who appears to be talking on a cellphone. He circles through the centre of the frame then off camera.
Kandiah walks into view and a second later the man is on him, wrestling with him for the jewelry before escaping with it a few seconds later.
Kandiah says he never had a chance. He wears leg braces to help him walk and his knees and left hip still hurt from the fall.
“I’m a big man,” say the retired security guard, pausing. “But I’m a sick man.”
In his native Sri Lanka, the type of necklace he wore is believed to have healing properties. It’s something Kandiah could desperately use, he says.
“I never took it off. Some people even think it helps cancer.”
Kandiah says he hasn’t told his wife or his son about the robbery. He doesn’t plan to — he says there’s no need for them to feel what he’s now feeling.
“Only fear,” he says, holding his hand to his face, pausing to describe the impact of the incident.
Toronto Police Const. David Hopkinson said the brazen nature of the attack has police concerned that the suspect could be responsible for other robberies. They’ve appealed to the public for help identifying him.
“There is no defence for him, he needs help just to walk and get around,” he said of Kandiah. “He could have suffered a very serious injury.”
The suspect is described as a black male, between 18 and 25 years old, wearing dark pants, a dark vest and a dark-coloured hoodie with a white Adidas symbol on the back of the hood. He also had on white shoes with dark soles.
Anyone with information is asked to call Toronto Police 416-808-4206 or Crime Stoppers at 416-222-8477.
https://www.torontosun.com/2014/05/09/cops-seek-thug-who-robbed-blind-man
He remembers the gold chain he’s worn for more than 20 years being yanked clean off.
He remembers spinning around, swinging his cane and, finally, crashing to the ground.
But Kandiah, which is not the 63-year-old man’s given name, could only see his attacker through a thick veil of red dust. It’s how he’s seen everything since 2007, after the onset of complications from diabetes. He is legally blind.
He thinks he was targeted because of his disability.
“I walk with this,” he said, shaking the white cane with a bright red tip. “He must have been watching me.”
Despite the terror he now feels, he told the Toronto Sun he wants to speak out about Monday’s robbery, which happened around 5 p.m. in broad daylight.
“Our lives are all at risk,” he said Friday, talking about brazen robberies in the Warden Ave. and Finch Ave. E. area where the incident occurred.
“The man, the way he ran, the way he snatched it, he was in need of money,” he said. “People are stealing everywhere.”
But where Kandiah’s eyes failed, an eye in the sky watched unblinking, recording everything.
Toronto Police obtained security footage that captured nearly the entire incident. It shows the assailant, a young black man, who appears to be talking on a cellphone. He circles through the centre of the frame then off camera.
Kandiah walks into view and a second later the man is on him, wrestling with him for the jewelry before escaping with it a few seconds later.
Kandiah says he never had a chance. He wears leg braces to help him walk and his knees and left hip still hurt from the fall.
“I’m a big man,” say the retired security guard, pausing. “But I’m a sick man.”
In his native Sri Lanka, the type of necklace he wore is believed to have healing properties. It’s something Kandiah could desperately use, he says.
“I never took it off. Some people even think it helps cancer.”
Kandiah says he hasn’t told his wife or his son about the robbery. He doesn’t plan to — he says there’s no need for them to feel what he’s now feeling.
“Only fear,” he says, holding his hand to his face, pausing to describe the impact of the incident.
Toronto Police Const. David Hopkinson said the brazen nature of the attack has police concerned that the suspect could be responsible for other robberies. They’ve appealed to the public for help identifying him.
“There is no defence for him, he needs help just to walk and get around,” he said of Kandiah. “He could have suffered a very serious injury.”
The suspect is described as a black male, between 18 and 25 years old, wearing dark pants, a dark vest and a dark-coloured hoodie with a white Adidas symbol on the back of the hood. He also had on white shoes with dark soles.
Anyone with information is asked to call Toronto Police 416-808-4206 or Crime Stoppers at 416-222-8477.
https://www.torontosun.com/2014/05/09/cops-seek-thug-who-robbed-blind-man
