Hitchhiker Hoax: ‘Kindness Of America’ Writer Lied About Shooting

Ray Dolin, a man who was hitchhiking across America to gather stories for his book, “The Kindness of America,” was shot earlier this week by a random truck driver while he was standing on the side of the road. Well, that’s the story that Dolin initially told the cops. Turns out that he actually shot himself.

The Associated Press reports that Dolin, 39, confessed that he made up the whole story after police arrested a 52-year-old man for felony assault. Lloyd Christopher Danielson III was charged with the shooting. Those charges have now been dropped.

The officers who originally responded to the scene, and bought Dolin’s story, said:

“It’s totally random. These two gentlemen did not know each other. They’d never seen each other and we don’t know of a motive. We don’t know why this happened.”

Well, now we have a little explanation. Dolin hasn’t said why he created the hitchhiker hoax and as of now, he isn’t facing any charges. Valley County Undersheriff Vernon Buerkle said that the case is currently under investigation and Dolin may be charged with a crime.

Why do you think Dolin made up the story about being shot by a random stranger? Was he embarrassed that he accidentally shot himself? Did he want to draw attention to his new book “Kindness in America?”