A 34-year-old Brooklyn man reported missing about two weeks ago has been charged with faking his own kidnapping — and he may have concocted the whole story to avoid his girlfriend's wrath.
The New York Police Department told NBC News that Rahmel Wallace, who also goes by the name Rahmel Pettway, was arrested Feb. 28 and charged with a misdemeanor count of filing a false report after admitting to police that he faked his disappearance.
A police spokeswoman said Wallace, once in custody, admitted he had faked the kidnapping. The New York Post reported that Wallace made up the story to explain his absence to his girlfriend.
Police sources told the Post that Wallace was found hog-tied, with his hands, legs and mouth covered in duct tape, a few blocks from his Bedford-Stuyvesant home early Thursday morning.
Police were initially skeptical of the kidnapping story after noticing a roll of duct tape hanging from Wallace's wrist, according to the Post.
“He’s a total moron,” a law-enforcement source told the paper. “It was a pathetic attempt to pull the wool [over] her eyes.”
Wallace first told police he couldn't remember what happened to him, then indicated he had been kidnapped by two men in blue minivan on Feb. 19, the Post said.
