A woman has turned herself in after being charged with theft by deception for allegedly lying about being attacked by a man with a brick and using the incident to raise more than $42,000 on GoFundMe.
Per KPRC-TV, Roda Osman turned herself in on Tuesday. An arraignment has been scheduled for March 5.
According to court documents obtained by KPRC-TV and included in a previous report, Osman, 33, initially told officers responding to a September 2023 report of an aggravated assault that a man threw a brick at her when she refused to give her phone number to him. She also claimed to have ordered an Uber that was driven by the man she suspected threw the brick at her.
Osman also alleged the car was filled with female passengers, leading her to believe the driver was involved in a human trafficking scheme. She further alleged the driver tried to kidnap her upon entering the vehicle.
Investigators reached out to Osman less than two weeks later with the contact information she provided them, but the phone number belonged to a friend who was with her when the alleged incident took place. The friend said Osman reached out to a few male friends to pick them up, and when they did, she sat in the front passenger seat while Osman sat in the backseat with an unknown man.
The friend alleged they were riding in the vehicle when she heard Osman yell, "Ouch, why did you hit me?" She did not notice the two were arguing beforehand. The man who was accused of striking Osman got out of the car, went into another vehicle, and drove away. The friend suggested to Osman that she should contact the police. She did not believe Osman was hit with a brick.
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A detective got in touch with Osman a few days after speaking with her friend. Osman said she was hit with a brick after entering a vehicle she incorrectly believed to be her Uber. She spoke with investigators again and claimed she was attacked at one of the clubs they visited. She then allegedly grew upset over further questioning and demanded to speak with the detective's supervisor.
Surveillance footage showed Osman and the man initially accused of hitting her with a brick getting into an argument. The man appears to strike Osman in the face while holding what reportedly appeared to be a plastic water bottle, this after Osman appeared to slap him.
A GoFundMe page was launched but has since been taken down.
Investigators were contacted by someone claiming they remembered a GoFundMe that was either started by or for Osman in 2020, which bore similarities in terms of the purported victim's claims. In fact, a former roommate of Osman spoke with investigators, telling them they were no longer friends because the attack did not occur and the GoFundMe was a scam.
After turning herself in on Tuesday, Osman was required to surrender her passport.
She was released on a $10,000 bond.
