82-year-old president of the Canadian Veterans Legion attacked by four thugs | News

Four “cowards” who attacked an 82-year-old man, who happens to be the long-time president of Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 40 and a proud military veteran, are still at large and no charges have been filed against them following their heinous act late Friday on Main Street, just outside the main branch of the Penticton Public Library.

Jim DeMarce, 82, was riding his scooter home from the Legion’s karaoke night around 11:30 p.m. when four strange men approached him.

“They weren’t kids, I’d say all four of them were in their 40s and they were all obviously homeless,” he said. “I asked if I could get past them and they said they would move their carts so I could get past if I gave them all my money and cigarettes. I said, ‘No… that’s not going to happen.’

“Then they pushed me off my scooter and attacked me like a gang.” Late Sunday afternoon, DeMarce had a large bruise the size of a quarter just above his right eye.

“A guy hit me with something. I fell off my scooter and then they booted me.”

The incident lasted only a minute or two, but it “feels like an eternity” when four grown men are punching and kicking you, he said. Fortunately, no other physical injuries occurred in the incident. They also left without taking his cigarettes or cash.

DeMarce said he did not recognize any of the four men who attacked him. The only clue he had was a red broom sticking out of one of the shopping carts.

“You see so many homeless people these days,” he said. “To me, a lot of them look exactly the same. They were all unkempt, not well dressed, all four of these guys had unkempt beards and long hair.”

“Once I got up and got back on my scooter, I just decided to go home.” He lives near the local RCMP detachment. DeMarce said he has “the utmost confidence in the Penticton RCMP because they have very difficult jobs and often deal with notorious offenders who keep getting arrested, released and then go on to violate their bail conditions and commit further crimes.”

“The police are doing their job. I don’t deny that,” he said.

He has worked as a long-time volunteer with many police officers in Penticton over the past decades and has always had a warm, friendly relationship.

The Canadian justice system, however, is broken and needs to be repaired, he said.

“What really makes me angry is that these people get arrested, they get fingerprinted, they get mugshots taken. They end up in the courtroom and the judge slaps them on the wrist and tells them to go. This happens all the time. The justice system, not just here in Penticton, but across Canada, sucks.

If a judge were attacked at a young age like he was, “I have no doubt that he would go to prison for a very long time. That’s a bold statement, but that’s how I honestly feel.”

DeMarce said he has lived in peace for nearly 82 years and has never been attacked. That four men half his age attacked him was truly upsetting, he said. During his six years in the Canadian military as a paratrooper in Edmonton, in his early 40s, DeMarce said things would definitely have turned out differently than they did Friday night.

“I’m 82 years old,” he said. “I’m not as fast, strong or agile as I used to be,” he said. Although he hasn’t yet filed an official report with police, DeMarce said a large group of friends, including dozens of Legion members, encouraged him to do so earlier this week.

“I have to go and file a report,” he said. “Many of my good friends are insisting that I go to the police, so that’s what I’m going to do. I have to go.”