Police in Arizona accused a 19-year-old man, Brandon Soules, of faking his own kidnapping in what appears to be an attempt to evade work, according to Coolidge police.
"...The subject reported to officers that two masked men kidnapped him, hit his head (knocking him unconscious) and drove him around in a vehicle before they left him in the area he was found", Coolidge police said in a statement published on Facebook. "An extensive investigation was conducted by Coolidge detectives and evidence was discovered showing his story was fabricated and no kidnapping or assault occurred."
According to The New York Times, Soules told police that he was kidnapped because his father had a large amount of money hidden in the desert.
Detectives investigated the "kidnapping" over the course of four days, going through the surveillance videos and interviewing people Soules mentioned, but found many inconsistencies in the story.
On 10 February, Soules was arrested for false reporting to law enforcement, eventually admitting that his kidnapping was just an intricate attempt to evade work.
According to his Facebook account, Soules at the time worked at a car shop, the Tire Factory, however he is no longer employed by the firm.