A 91-year-old man was violently struck and robbed at a Don Mills gas station on Tuesday.
The elderly man told police he was filling up his car near Don Mills Road and Lawrence Avenue around 2:30 p.m. when he was approached by another man impersonating a police officer who suggested that his tire was flat.
The younger man offered to fill up the tire, asking the older man for his car keys but he refused.
“He said ‘you need air in your tire’ and then he says ‘you know this car has been under surveillance for a couple of weeks and that’s because there’s been a lot of robberies in the neighbourhood so I need to take your car keys’ and I said ‘well you’re not having my car keys,’” Alex – who did not want to state his last name – told CTV News Toronto on Thursday.
“And then he just sort of pounced on me and we wrestled.”
The older man’s car keys were ripped from his hands before the assailant got in the car and fled the area.
At the time of the incident, Det. Const. Mike Warwar happened to be at the same gas station reporting to another call. He was able to help Alex afterwards.
“I ran to him and as I was doing that I noticed the vehicle is speeding away eastbound on Lawrence Avenue – the trunk was still open,” he said.
The missing car is described as a grey 2009 four-door Hyundai Elantra with the licence plate number 053 WCY. He has been described by police as a tall man between the ages of 40 and 45 with dark hair. At the time, he was wearing a white t-shirt and carrying a white plastic bag.
Security camera images of the suspect have been released in hopes the public can help identify him.
Anyone with further information is asked to call police at 416-808-3300 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477).
