A 19-year-old man is accused of faking his own kidnapping to get out of going to work

• A 19-year-old man in Arizona is accused of faking his own kidnapping, Coolidge Police said.
• Brandon Soules admitted he staged the kidnapping in order to get out of work. 
• Soules said he was kidnapped because his father had a large sum of money hidden in the desert. 
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A 19-year-old man in Coolidge, Arizona, was arrested for allegedly faking his own kidnapping so he could get out of work, police reported. 

The Coolidge Police Department said in a statement that Brandon Soules was arrested on February 17  on charges of false reporting – a misdemeanor – after he admitted to officers during an interview that he made his kidnapping up. 

Officers said on February 10, they responded to a scene where a man had his hands bound behind his back with a belt and a bandana stuffed in his mouth. The man, who was later identified as Soules, told officers that two men wearing masks kidnapped him. 

He said he was knocked unconscious and driven around before eventually being dropped off near the town’s water tower. 

According to a police report obtained by The New York Times, Soules told investigators he believed he’d been kidnapped because his father had hidden a large sum of money in the desert. Police determined that there was no hidden money. 

When confronted by the allegation that he'd fabricated the story, Soules admitted "he made up the story as an excuse to get out of work," according to the Coolidge PD. 

Police told The Times that Soules worked at the Tire Factory, installing tires and driving around the area to pick up parts. A Facebook account that appears to belong to Soules says he no longer works there. 

Brandon Soules did not immediately reply to Insider's request for comment. The Coolidge Police Department did not reply to Insider's email request for comment and records at the time of publication.