|
Listen to this article here
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
A woman who made over $42,000 on GoFundMe after claiming that a man assaulted her with a brick outside a Houston club has been charged with felony theft by deception. Police matched “Brick Lady” to Roda Osman, a 33-year-old woman who has a similar criminal history.
The charging documents confirm she was hit, but with a bottle, not a brick. It’s unclear whether the man who hit her will face charges.
How it All Began
On September 3, Houston police officers answered a call for an aggravated assault incident. By the time police arrived, they stated Osman was drunk, hostile, and angry.
During the original report, Osman alleged that she began walking on Schumacher Lane when a random man threw a brick in her direction. The unknown man allegedly hit her in the face after Osman refused to give out her phone number.
According to court documents, Osman stated that she ordered an Uber and presumed the suspect was the Uber driver. The 33-year-old woman entered the vehicle when she claimed he attempted to kidnap her. Furthermore, she alleged that the suspect was involved in human trafficking and also had a large group of women in the back of the vehicle.
Investigation into Osman
Two weeks later, detectives reached out to Osman, but she did not respond. The number that the 33-year-old woman provided was her friend’s number. The friend was at the scene at the time of the incident.
The friend told Houston police that she was not from Houston. Also, she traveled to various places with Osman, and stated that she contacted her male friends to come get them.
Osman and her friend got into a dark-colored sedan, which was their male friend’s vehicle. According to documents, the woman entered the passenger seat while Osman was in the back with another man. While the man was driving, the friend heard Osman scream, “Ouch, why did you hit me?!” Her friend claimed she did not hear an altercation before the yelling.
The friend’s story did not match what Osman told detectives. Moreover, the friend claimed that the alleged suspect, whom Osman identified, exited their vehicle and drove off into another. Detectives gathered the surveillance footage, which did not support Osman’s initial claims to officials.
“Brick Woman” faces charges
After the incident, “Brick Lady” went on Instagram Live and went viral on social media. The GoFundMe created raised over $40,000 from individuals.
Investigators received a helpful call from Daphne Sutton, a mental health advocate on Tiktok, believing that Osman was lying about the whole incident. While the situation received a lot of media coverage, many people became suspicious of Osman’s story. As a result, the people reported GoFundMe as fraudulent and her account was frozen.
Osman has a history of lying and the creation of scams, as she composed a similar narrative in 2020. Osman alleged that a black man hit her and established a GoFundMe.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office is requesting a $50,000 bail.