Fake New York fireman arrested
A US parole violator who claimed to be a New York city fireman on stress leave in Canada has been exposed as a fake and arrested.
Michael Carle LaCarte had received a hero’s welcome in the small Alberta town of Lethbridge.
The 39-year-old claimed he had been a Manhattan fireman for seven years, and that 11 of his colleagues died when the World Trade Centre towers collapsed.
He walked into the fire station in Lethbridge on September 10 – a day before the anniversary of the attacks.
He was treated like “a brother”, said fire platoon chief Charlie Brown.
The local firemen showed him round, gave him a T-shirt and a cap, bought him dinner and the union gave him a €96 cheque.
But he had been in custody for parole violation in Oregon City at the time of the terrorist attacks.
Local media said his original crime was aggravated theft.
He is not charged with any crime in Canada, but is detained under the Immigration Act which allows Canadian officials to apprehend an individual wanted for alleged crimes in the US.
