COLLEGE STATION, Texas — A College Station man has been charged after officers spent hours searching for him after he claimed to have been kidnapped.
Vincent Oggero, 19, of College Station, is charged with making a false police report. He allegedly told police it was all just a prank that he did with his friends.
It happened on February 11. Officers were called to a restaurant in the Northgate District after the staff found a receipt with the phrase "I NEED HELP I Got Kidnapped" and a phone number. Police officers checked the name on the credit card receipt, as well as the other names on the receipts of those at the same table. Police said staff told them the table had left about 10 minutes earlier.
Authorities said surveillance video of the group showed that nothing appeared to be wrong. About an hour into the investigation, officers said they were able to track down the address of one member of the group to a townhome complex on Holleman Drive. More investigators went to the address and confirmed with people living there that the person at the table had just left with Oggero, who also lived in the complex.
When officers got to Oggero's home, people there told them he was at another person's home, also in the complex. Officers went to that home and found a large group of people gathered and asked to speak to Oggero.
According to investigators, Oggero apologized for what he wrote on the receipt. He allegedly told them he had done it on his friend's receipt just to "prank" him and police said he indicated he knew officers would respond.
Oggero was formally arrested and charged on April 16. He has posted a $5,000 bond and has since been released.
