CYPRESS, Calif., March 25 (UPI) -- Police in Southern California were searching Wednesday for a man who convinced a Korean War veteran to hand over his savings.
Investigators say that the 79-year-old man lost $19,000, The Orange County Register reported.
The alleged theft occurred in October, police in Cypress said. The victim said that he first met the thief on Oct. 6, while he was walking his dog and the man drove past him in a white SUV.
The next day, the man approached him and said they were going to a birthday party, the veteran said. Instead, he took him to two Bank of America branches where the victim withdrew the money from his account.
The thief sent the victim home in a taxi, telling the driver that his family would pay the fare, police reports said.
"The victim, a U.S. Army veteran of the Korean War era, had moved to California from the Midwest to take care of his aging parents," said Police Chief Mark Yokoyama. "He remained in California living on his modest retirement savings, which had now been depleted by this suspect. This crime is a slap in the face to an American hero and his comrades."
