El Fantasma
Well-known member
- Joined
- Apr 29, 2010
- Messages
- 159
TORONTO - Bob Hackett calls the man who stole a Canadian Legion poppy box belonging to his legion branch “scum.”
The president of Branch 3 didn’t mince words Wednesday about what he’d say to the Poppy Bandit who stole the box from the Pizza Nova shop around 11:45 p.m. Monday at The Queensway at Royal York Rd.
“When you steal from the Poppy Fund, as far as I’m concerned, you’re the lowest scum there is,” Hackett, president of the Eighth St. branch.
The bandit was caught by a surveillance camera as he grabbed the box belonging to the branch sitting on the front counter of the pizza shop.
He fled with an unknown amount of money, but it couldn’t have been much,Toronto Police said.
A trail of red poppies as they fluttered out of the box and then littered The Queensway as the bandit fled, Hackett said.
He said the box has since been replaced at the pizza shop.
“It’s bad,” said the former Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry First Battalion paratrooper who served between 1954 and 1958 with the occupation troops in Europe. “It’s a pretty bad state of mind that you’re in when you have to steal the Poppy Fund.”
Hackett said he’d like to see pictures the thief’s face “stapled all over the place” in a bid to capture him.
“It’s quite low,” Det. Barbara Kohl of 22 Division agreed Wednesday.
Kohl said it appears the man spotted a moment of opportunity when he thought no one was looking to take the Royal Canadian Legion Poppy Fund box. But the unblinking surveillance camera captured the bandit grabbing the box.
Hackett said the Poppy Campaign raises funds for veterans and their families and helps cover living expenses at a number of places, including Sunnybrook’s K Wing and the Tony Stacey Centre nursing home.
“People who steal poppy boxes of this kind don’t only steal from the veterans, they’re stealing from the public also,” Hackett said. “I think it’s pretty bad when you stoop that low.”
He said while it doesn’t happen often, poppy boxes are stolen. Indeed, other boxes belonging to Branch 3 have been stolen in the past.
“It’s disappointing,” Hackett said.
Anyone who recognizes the bandit is asked to call 22 Division at 416-808-2204 or remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at 416-222-8477.
The president of Branch 3 didn’t mince words Wednesday about what he’d say to the Poppy Bandit who stole the box from the Pizza Nova shop around 11:45 p.m. Monday at The Queensway at Royal York Rd.
“When you steal from the Poppy Fund, as far as I’m concerned, you’re the lowest scum there is,” Hackett, president of the Eighth St. branch.
The bandit was caught by a surveillance camera as he grabbed the box belonging to the branch sitting on the front counter of the pizza shop.
He fled with an unknown amount of money, but it couldn’t have been much,Toronto Police said.
A trail of red poppies as they fluttered out of the box and then littered The Queensway as the bandit fled, Hackett said.
He said the box has since been replaced at the pizza shop.
“It’s bad,” said the former Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry First Battalion paratrooper who served between 1954 and 1958 with the occupation troops in Europe. “It’s a pretty bad state of mind that you’re in when you have to steal the Poppy Fund.”
Hackett said he’d like to see pictures the thief’s face “stapled all over the place” in a bid to capture him.
“It’s quite low,” Det. Barbara Kohl of 22 Division agreed Wednesday.
Kohl said it appears the man spotted a moment of opportunity when he thought no one was looking to take the Royal Canadian Legion Poppy Fund box. But the unblinking surveillance camera captured the bandit grabbing the box.
Hackett said the Poppy Campaign raises funds for veterans and their families and helps cover living expenses at a number of places, including Sunnybrook’s K Wing and the Tony Stacey Centre nursing home.
“People who steal poppy boxes of this kind don’t only steal from the veterans, they’re stealing from the public also,” Hackett said. “I think it’s pretty bad when you stoop that low.”
He said while it doesn’t happen often, poppy boxes are stolen. Indeed, other boxes belonging to Branch 3 have been stolen in the past.
“It’s disappointing,” Hackett said.
Anyone who recognizes the bandit is asked to call 22 Division at 416-808-2204 or remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at 416-222-8477.
