Lots of men tell stupid lies to their girlfriends, but not all of them end up involving the police.
A British man was fined after he called texted his girlfriend saying he’d been kidnapped over a debt equivalent to $82. He said he told the lie so he could continue to stay out partying. The issue is that his girlfriend took the claim seriously and called police.
Police were not pleased when they learned the kidnapping was a hoax, with a spokesman calling it “one of the most foolish and irresponsible incidents” ever encountered by the department.
“Considerable resources and time then went into finding this man, who it transpires made the entire thing up so he could stay out and party,” Detective Inspector Jo Clawson for the Greater Manchester Police told Sky News.
The 32-year-old was found after police checked closed-circuit TV footagetaken close to his home, according to the BBC.
The man’s friend was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping but then released after his buddy confessed to the ruse.
Although it seems like a terrible excuse, other people have used kidnapping to ineptly conceal a night of partying from their significant others.
In 2013, a Texas man was charged with making a false statement after the told his wife he’d been kidnapped so that he could go out drinking with his friends. The man reportedly said he’d done so because he was afraid of his wife.
“We have people file false reports all the time, and we put them in jail for it,” Hidalgo County Sheriff Guadalupe Treviño told The Monitor at the time. “But I’ve never had someone do it just to get out of the house.”