FRESNO. (AP) — Authorities say a 92-year-old World War II veteran was pistol-whipped and thrown into a closet by three robbers who ransacked his Fresno home.

The Fresno Bee reports (Josef Martin, who is blind in one eye and nearly deaf, was awakened early Wednesday by one of the robbers stuffing a gun barrel in his mouth.

After they left, Martin, who uses a walker to get around, managed to crawl out of the closet and call 911.

The robbers stole $200 hidden under a rug, along with jewelry, including two rings they pulled off his hands. Martin tells the newspaper one of the rings was made for him during the war by a prisoner of war who was a jeweler.

The newspaper says Martin has lived alone since his wife died earlier this year.

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