Updated

A 70-year-old Army vet foiled a robbery at a North Carolina Waffle House when he cracked the would-be robber in the nose with his cane.

Phillip Brooks was about to sit down for breakfast at the Waffle House in Fayetteville on April 2 when a man with an AK-47 style rifle rushed in and announced a robbery.

Brooks, who served two tours in Vietnam, recognized the weapon as a fake, WRAL-TV reported Friday.

“All the working parts were missing, so I just told the girls, ‘Don’t give him anything. That’s a fake gun,’” he said.

Brooks told the station he sprung into action when he saw the weapon pointed at him.

“I hit him in the nose with my cane,” the vet said. “He kept batting it away with the barrel of the rifle, and I kept batting the barrel of the rifle away.”

Customers helped chase the suspect out of the restaurant.

Fayetteville police released a photo of suspect that was taken with a surveillance camera.