WWII vet fights off would-be carjackers

TACOMA, Wash., April 25 (UPI) -- A World War II veteran in Tacoma, Wash., fought off two would-be carjackers after they gave him a black eye.

Ted Mazetier, 84, said he was driving home from playing bingo with his wife at her nursing home Wednesday evening when he saw two men standing by the side of the road near a car. When he pulled over and rolled down the window to ask if they needed help, one of the men punched him and demanded his car keys, The Tacoma News Tribune reported.

"I thought, 'I'm going to get you, you son of a b----,'" Mazetier told the newspaper. "I opened the door … The guy lunged at me and I kicked him in the balls."

Mazetier flagged down passing cars and someone chased the two men away. Police eventually arrested two suspects.

A former corrections officer, Mazetier said he has always liked to help people. But he has decided stopping on the street to offer assistance is too risky.

"It's dangerous," he said. "Boy, it's dangerous out there. I'll be 85 in June, and this will live with me forever."