SWAMPSCOTT, MASS. (WHDH) - A man who allegedly swiped a donation bucket filled with money for veterans in Swampscott on Wednesday surprised the veteran raising money as he apologized almost immediately thereafter.
Michael Darcangelo, an 89-year-old World War II veteran, was collecting money for fellow veterans outside a Swampscott Stop and Shop.
“I tell you, I had 20s in there, 10s, 5s, 1s, change,” he said.
The veteran had been outside the store with two buckets, one to give out poppies and one to hold money.
Police said Michael Rogers, 23, had his eye on the bucket of money as he walked out of the store and took off with it.
“I look down, he’s got my bucket,” Darcangelo said. “So I start right out after him and I chased him and I can run pretty fast.”
Darcangelo was in hot pursuit, shouting to a shopper to call the police as the thief weaved through the parking lot.
“As he was running away from me, before the police got him, he was stuffing money from the bucket into his pants,” Darcangelo said. “You know, that ain’t the time to do that. The thing to do is get away!”
An officer nearby managed to catch Rogers.
According to a police report, Rogers apologized to Darcangelo, calling himself an idiot and saying the veteran did not deserve it.
Then, when police tried to tell Rogers he had the right to remain silent, he said, “The old guy doesn’t deserve to be robbed by me.”
“He said, ‘I’m sorry,’ is what he said to me,” Darcangelos aid. “And I could have killed him before that but because he said that, he was no nice and now I feel bad for him.”
In total $279 were returned to Darcangelo’s VFW post.
Rogers remains in jail after being arraigned on Thursday.
“It was an experience because I never ran into anything like that before, where someone stole something from me or anything, and I was going after that guy, let me tell you,” Darcangelo said.
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