Curtis Sliwa, 64, was hit in the face by a teen and lost his tooth (2024)

Curtis Sliwa, the founder of anti-crime group Guardian Angels, was hit so hard in the face by a teen that his front left tooth was knocked out.

Sliwa, who started a group dedicated to stopping crime and violence on the New York City subway, was ironically hit by a teenager he had just stopped from fighting at Penn Station on Friday.

The radio host, 64, said that he broke up a fight between a group of four teenagers around 7pm at the busy train station.

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Then one of the men followed him as he left the station and walked down West 33rd Street near Eighth Avenue.

The teen ran up behind him then hit him square in the face, knocking out his tooth.

According to the police, it's not clear why the teen decided to follow Sliwa and hit him, as per the New York Post. Sliwa was unable to identify the teen who hit him.

Sliwa however kept on grinning, even without his tooth and refused medical attention.

He appeared on Fox's Good Day Wake Up show the following Monday where he shared his goofy smile and explained how he was hit.

'I got sucker-punched! I got sucker-punched breaking up a fight in Penn Station. Four guys were tusslin' so I go in and break up this group and all of a sudden BAM' he said to Fox host Jennifer Lahmers.

Then he said all the men in the fight ran in different directions, away from the scene.

Sliwa jokingly pointed to the camera and said: 'But I'll get you out there, if it's the last thing I do.'

Sliwa famously founded the Guardian Angels in the 1970s to fight rampant crime in New York City's subways, and is still frequently seen in the group's signature red outfits.

Sliwa, born in Brooklyn to parents of Italian and Polish descent, was working in a McDonald’s on Fordham Road in the Bronx in 1977, when commuters feared the ‘muggers’ express’ subway train and the rampant crime across the city.

‘The Bronx was slipping into the abyss in the-mid 70s,’ he tells DailyMail.com. ‘It was burning down block by block. Gangs controlled whole neighborhoods. I had to take the subways, because I was living in Brooklyn at the time, which was also earning the nickname “Crooklyn.” And so from riding the trains to walking the streets to managing a McDonald’s in the Bronx, it was chaos – anarchy.’

He says the situation really struck him one night in McDonald’s, when he was listening to a broadcast of the Yankees playing in the World Series. Burning buildings in the Bronx could be seen from the stadium, and – on foot of a Yankees win – the announcer mentioned that the team was considering moving the stadium to the Meadowlands.

‘That was sort of like the trigger, after witnessing the collapse of the Bronx and New York City at that time – to just scrape the barnacles off my backside, get my rear in gear and then start thinking about a subway safety patrol.

Despite opposition from authorities and various corners, the profile of the Angels rose, and chapters of the Angels spread across the United States. The Angels were not without obstacles, however; over the years, six members have been killed and three dozen seriously injured, he says.

Sliwa himself – after publicly speaking out against the mafia – survived an assassination attempt in 1992, when he was picked up in a stolen taxi and shot multiple times before he escaped from the vehicle.

Through it all, however, the Angels have persisted; now, he says, they are active in 13 countries and 130 cities. They’ve expanded to include Junior Angels and animal protection units, and Curtis still manages the day-to-day of the international organization. He emphasizes that, particularly during the current social and political upheaval in the US, individuals and local communities have the power to effect change.

Sliwa has also had his share of personal battles and was even sued by hisex-wife in a $1.45 million lawsuit claiming that the Guardian Angels founder cheated on her and swindled her out of nearly a half million dollars.

But he has remained a dedicated activist and crime fighter.