95-Year-Old World War II vet used his cane to fight off would-be thief

It's probably hard to intimidate someone who lived through the invasion of Okinawa. Too bad he didn't have one of those self-defense canes with a built-in stun gun.

MANCHESTER, N.H. (CBS) – Arthur Kemberis may be 95 years old and walks with a cane but this WWII veteran had the strength to fight off a would be robber who tried to steal his wallet.

“I am not a fighter. I am too old to do that but I did lift up my cane and struck him on the shoulder,” Kemberis said.

Arthur says the unexpected confrontation unfolded Saturday morning when he went to pick up his wife’s prescription at Walgreens in Manchester. Police say that’s when a suspect began following Arthur inside the store.

“I took the money out and he saw me after I took out the amount and I pushed everything back in my wallet,” Kemberis said.

Moments later outside in the parking lot the man approached Arthur and tried to grab his wallet several times but Arthur even at the age of 95 wouldn’t stand for it.

“He saw me coming up to strike him on the shoulders. I hit him three or four times,” Kemberis said.

Kamberis wasn’t hurt.

“He wasn’t very aggressive, but I was,” Kemberis said.

via The Blaze.

Great-grandmother, 92, hits mugger with mobility scooter. Bonus: Hell's Grannies sketch from Monty Python

My favorite bit:

"We went through the war and all the bombings. We won't let a weasel like that hold us back."

A 92-year-old woman has told how she saved her 75-year-old friend from a mugger by ramming him with her mobility scooter.

Eileen Mason and Margaret Seabrook were on their way back from a lunch club meeting when the thief struck from behind a fence.

Margaret Seabrook, 75, (left) and Eileen Mason, 92 Photo: SWNS

He saw the contents of Ms Seabrook's basket, mounted on the front of her scooter, before grabbing Ms Mason by the arm and reaching for her carrier bag. Ms Mason shouted "Oh, no you don't," and hit the accelerator of her scooter.

The would-be thief was knocked to the ground before the great-grandmothers, both of Swindon, Wiltshire, sped off.

Ms Mason - who has four children, 10 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren - said: "I saw him look into my basket and I said 'oh no you don't', really loudly.

"I put my scooter into accelerate and turned really fast. The next thing I know he was on the floor. I thought 'my gosh'.

"Something in me just told me to turn so I squeezed the accelerator and turned and he went flying. He was so evil looking. We go to the lunch club every week on our scooters and nothing like this has ever happened before.

"We went through the war and all the bombings. We won't let a weasel like that hold us back. I would stand up for myself again if I needed to, but hopefully I won't need to. We will carry on as normal though - he hasn't put us off."

Mother-of-three Ms Seabrook, who has eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren said: "They were obviously targeting us because they thought we'd be an easy target - he was wrong.

"We're just so surprised by the response we've had. We just want to warn people not to leave things on display in their baskets, put it in the back or leave it on your lap, hidden by a coat."

And here are Hell's Grannies from Monty Python (wiki):

More at the Telegraph, via Dave Barry.