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Hog-Tied Man Faked Kidnapping to Avoid Girlfriend's Wrath: Cops

By Andrew Lu on March 05, 2013 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

A gagged and hog-tied Brooklyn man faked his own kidnapping as a way to explain his absence to his demanding girlfriend, investigators say.

As one law-enforcement source told the New York Post: "He's a total moron."

Police say Rahmell Pettway, 36, admitted to spending two weeks away from his home. Unable to explain his extended absence to his girlfriend, Pettway allegedly came up with the fake kidnapping idea, the Post reports.

If this plan seems ill-conceived, the execution was not any better.

Police found Pettway hogtied in the street. He initially told cops that he was abducted by two men in a minivan. But eagle-eyed officers quickly spotted something suspicious.

They noticed that while Pettway was hogtied, he still had a roll of duct tape dangling from his wrists. With his wrists bound, Pettway apparently had no way of removing the roll.

Talk about a sticky situation. When questioned, Pettway apparently came clean and was arrested for filing a false report, reports the Post. Authorities were not too sympathetic to Pettway's scheme, calling his fake kidnapping attempt "pathetic."

Under New York's law, Pettway can be found guilty of filing a false report if he knowingly reported a false crime. But there may be a question as to whether Pettway actually reported anything. After all, he did not call the cops. Instead, witnesses simply saw him bound and gagged in the middle of the street.

New York's statute does provide that someone may falsely report a crime by "word or action." In Pettway's case, his binding himself and standing in a public street could potentially suffice; in addition, he first tried to lie to cops by telling them about his bogus kidnapping before coming clean.

Pettway faces a Class A misdemeanor charge in connection with his allegedly faked kidnapping. Perhaps it comes as no surprise that he has 14 prior arrests on his record.

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