Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa has admitted that he faked his own kidnapping and several stunts that grabbed headlines for his volunteer crime-fighting organization in its early years.
Sliwa said he decided to tell the truth about the half-dozen times he lied because of his recent real brush with death - he was ambushed and shot in a cab - and the outpouring of affection he received while recuperating."I felt a bit unworthy," Sliwa, 38, said in an interview published today in the New York Post. He insisted that the shooting in June and a baseball-bat attack in April were real. His last hoax was in 1980, he said.
Sliwa's tall tales included the rescues of mugging and rape victims, an incident of racist vandalism and, finally, his own kidnapping, the Post reported. The stories generated publicity and support for his volunteers.
"I learned how the newspapers operated, how newsrooms and deadlines worked," Sliwa said. "I was impatient. And it was intoxicating. Suddenly reporters were calling me, quoting me, asking my opinion. When it first hits you and you get recognition, it's a jolt."
Sliwa's wife, Lisa, with whom he is co-host of a radio show, told the newspaper she didn't know about the lies until last weekend.