Man Admits Making Up Kidnapping Story
A Hacienda Heights man who claimed he was robbed, kidnapped and locked in a car trunk for three days admitted Monday that he concocted the story to cover up a spending spree on drugs and a prostitute, police said.
The 32-year-old man initially told police that two gunmen kidnapped him from a Fullerton gas station last Tuesday, forced him to drive to Los Angeles and left him locked in his trunk, Fullerton Police Det. Steve Christoffersen said.
The man was freed from the trunk about 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies responding to a phone call by a passing cab driver, Christoffersen said.
After changing his story several times, the man admitted under questioning Monday that he fabricated the crime report after buying drugs for himself and a Whittier prostitute, police said.
“By the time he was finished, he had spent his entire $317 paycheck, and didn’t have enough money to pay his rent,” Christoffersen said.
Police withheld the man’s name. “He is estranged from his wife and there is some chance of a reconciliation, so the detectives decided not to release that information,” city spokeswoman Sylvia Palmer said Monday.
Detectives are now discussing the case with Orange County district attorney’s prosecutors to determine whether charges will be filed.
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