A University of Texas student who reported he was kidnapped and robbed last month has now been charged with perjury and making a false report after it was discovered he lied about details of the situation.
Initially, Daniel Mullan told officers at the Austin Police Department he was lured into a car by two black men on Nov. 7. One of them allegedly told the 20-year-old he had a gun and was going to force Mullan to withdraw money from his bank account. The student claimed he had to take $4,000 out of his account and after that one of the men took the money and made him get out the car, CBS Boston reported Nov. 30.
(CBS Austin/Austin Police Department)
Authorities arrested the suspects but then police discovered details that Mullan left out of his story. During an interview with one of the men, he said he didn’t rob or kidnap the student. Rather, he was actually inside Mullan’s apartment. To verify his account, the man gave details about the space to cops, like the way the furniture was positioned. That was later confirmed by law enforcement.
When police interviewed Mullan a second time, he admitted the kidnapping claim was false. The affidavit stated Mullan gave one of the men the $4,000 so he could get change for drug deals happening at a later time. Mullan was driven to different places to take out the money because he was promised he’d be paid for his help, police said. The money Mullan gave one of the men was done so of his own volition and then the student got out of the vehicle. Then, he filed a police report.
Court documents say when Mullan was asked why he claimed he was kidnapped and robbed the student explained he concocted the story saying he was threatened because the men made him feel afraid.
“There…no gun, yes as soon as like I’m having to go to the police with this I’m going to have to say that they had some intent of threat rather than two guys that looked kind of scary intimidated me,” he said. “No gun just two intimidating looking blacks.”
Mullan told officers he could leave whenever he wanted but he stuck around because he was promised he’d get paid for his assistance.
