Arizona Man Is Accused of Faking Own Kidnapping to Evade Work

Arizona Man Is Accused of Faking Own Kidnapping to Evade Work

When the police arrived, they found the man with his hands bound behind his back by a belt and a bandanna “stuffed in his mouth” in Coolidge, Ariz.

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Brandon Soules was arrested after the police say he falsely claimed that he had been abducted outside his home in Arizona. Credit...Coolidge Police Department
Johnny Diaz

By Johnny Diaz

Feb. 23, 2021Updated 2:18 p.m. ET



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When the officers arrived, they found a man, later identified as Mr. Soules, with his hands bound behind his back by a belt and a purple bandanna “stuffed in his mouth,” according to the police. A photo from the Police Department showed the man with his hands tied while lying on his side on the ground.

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The men, according to Mr. Soules, “drove him around in a vehicle before they left him in the area where he was found,” the police said. Mr. Soules was taken to a hospital, where he was evaluated and interviewed by the police. According to the department, he told investigators that he had been kidnapped because his father had a large amount of money hidden throughout the desert.

For days, detectives tried to investigate his account including by reviewing surveillance video of the area and interviewing people he mentioned. Hospital records showed that Mr. Soules had no concussion or injury to his head, a police report said, and text messages reviewed by the detectives did not show messages or phone calls that had been described.

Eventually, and after repeatedly confronting Mr. Soules with problems in his account, the detectives concluded that “his story was fabricated and no kidnapping or assault occurred,” the police said. They also determined that the account of hidden treasure was false.

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