HOUSTON – A woman who went viral on social media after making claims a man assaulted her with a brick outside a Houston club and then allegedly used the story to fraudulently raise over $40,000 on GoFundMe was expected to turn herself in to police, but didn’t show up Thursday.
Roda Osman, 33, has been charged with felony theft by deception. According to charging documents, Osman raised at least $40,000 through a fraudulent GoFundMe page she started in September that claimed she was the victim of a similar attack more than three years ago.
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Osman had agreed to turn herself in on the charge at 3:45 p.m. Thursday, but when the time came, she didn’t show up.
Community activists Candence Matthews and Quannel X said Osman had reached out to them for help and they had agreed with Osman that she would turn herself in on the charge, but when the time came, Osman didn’t show up. Matthews and Quannel X said this is the first time they had worked with somebody who didn’t show up.
How it started
On Sept. 3, Houston police officers responded to an aggravated assault incident. They met Osman and her female friend. During the investigation, officers reported that Osman was intoxicated, hostile and irate.
In the original police report made at the scene, Osman claimed that she was walking on Schumacher Lane where an unknown man threw a brick at her when she would not give him her phone number, court documents show.
She also told officers she had ordered an Uber and believed the brick-throwing suspect was the Uber driver. Osman said she got into the car with him where he then tried to kidnap her, according to documents. Osman stated the suspect was involved in human trafficking and had a large group of women in the car with him.
A follow-up investigation begins
On Sept. 15, detectives tried to reach Osman, but the number she provided was her friend’s number, who was also at the scene when the incident was reported. The friend said she was not from Houston and went out to several places to drink with Osman, documents show. She said Osman reportedly called her male friends to come pick them up.
When the men arrived, Osman and the friend got into their vehicle, which was a dark-colored sedan. The woman told investigators that she got into the right front passenger seat, and Osman in the backseat with another man. As they were driving, she reportedly heard Osman yell, “Ouch - why you hit me?!” but stated that she did not hear an argument before she heard Osman yell.
Osman’s friend further details incident
The friend stated off the record that she did not believe Osman was hit with a brick, according to charging documents.
The friend told detectives the suspect who allegedly assaulted Osman got out of their vehicle, got into another vehicle, and drove off. She said Osman went live on Instagram and that she tried to convince Osman to call the police.
The friend said she did not know the two men she got into the car with and would not be able to positively identify the suspects involved, according to documents.
Osman gives statement to detectives
A detective finally made contact with Osman on Sept 19.
During the phone interview, Osman told the detective that her friend came to town and picked all the clubs they went to that night. They reportedly started at the O2 Lounge and then went to the Liquid lounge. Osman said as they left the club, she called an Uber.
According to the charging documents, when the dark-colored sedan pulled up, Osman thought it was the Uber she had called and got inside.
Osman told the detective that’s when the suspect hit her in the face with a brick.
She also stated that she did her own investigation and found out it was a man named Olan Douglas who assaulted her.
When Osman was asked where was her friend at the time, she reportedly became upset and said her friend was far away from her while talking to another guy.
Osman then changed her story to say she was assaulted at the Liquid Lounge Club. After more questioning from the Houston police detective, Osman became upset, asked to speak with the detective’s supervisor and then hung up. The detective said he still provided her the name of his sergeant.
Surveillance video tells another story
On Sept. 20, Houston police detectives canvassed the area where the assault was reported and spotted surveillance cameras in the 5600 block of Schumacher. The company that owns the cameras provided detectives with footage from them, charging documents show.
In the footage, the man that Osman claimed hit her, Olan Douglas, was also identified.
Detectives said Douglas, Osman, and her friend were seen talking amongst each other and walking towards TikTalk Garden lounge, located in the 5600 block of Schumacher Lane. They all reportedly went inside the club together.
About 20 minutes later, the video shows the trio walk outside the club, then walk toward a white Maserati that was parked directly on the side of the business. Douglas was reportedly seen leaning on the right front passenger door while Osman walked towards him. According to the documents, the surveillance footage shows that Osman started dancing on Douglas while her friend was in front of the vehicle talking to another man.
The video then reportedly shows all four people get inside the Maserati.
The unidentified man got into the driver seat, the friend got in the right front passenger seat, and Osman and Douglas entered the back, according to documents. A few minutes later, Douglas was reportedly seen getting out the back right side, and then Osman and her friend also got out.
According to charging documents, Osman and Douglas were in an argument and Douglas reportedly swung his right hand while holding what appeared to be a plastic water bottle and struck Osman in the face.
Detectives said Osman then sat in the front passenger seat of the vehicle while Douglas stepped away from her. He reportedly got into the back of the seat of an Audi A3 that had pulled up.
When Osman got out the vehicle, detectives said the unidentified man who was driving it took off.
The footage capturing the incident did not support Osman’s recorded statement, charging documents show.
‘Brick Lady’s’ story goes viral on social media
When Osman went live on Instagram after the incident, she went viral on social media.
On Sept. 4, a day after the alleged assault was reported, a GoFundMe account was created and listed Osman as the beneficiary. The account raised $42,302 as of Oct. 25, 2023, according to charging documents.
It stated that she was attacked by a Black male as she was walking down the street because she declined to give him her phone number, the report read.
The page reads, “Woman gets hospitalized after allegedly being hit in the face with a brick by a man she refused to give her number. The alleged incident happened in Houston. She says she was surrounded by men who did absolutely nothing. She says the man got in a car and left the scene after assaulting her and is afraid he will never get caught.”
The “viral video” link on the GoFundMe still directs to an Instagram account. The video received more than one million likes.
A link for “Roda’s external injuries” redirects to TikTok and currently shows the video as unavailable.
The GoFundMe account is reportedly frozen after several donators reported it as fraudulent.
TikTok’er provides police information on Osman’s false claims, past alleged scams
During the investigation, detectives said they received a call from Daphne Sutton, a mental health advocate and blogger on TikTok, who believed Osman was conducting a scam because of a similar situation that happened in Minneapolis in 2020.
She reportedly provided detectives with another GoFundMe account that was created by or for Osman in 2020 with the same narrative of a “Black man hitting her.” Sutton made TikToks about the incident and said some of Osman’s friends and an ex-roommate also reached out to her to provide a statement.
Detectives reached out to Minneapolis Police Department to ask about the GoFundMe titled “Help Black Muslim Mother Pay Her Medical Bill,” documents read.
The description stated: “A young Black Muslim single mother was viciously assaulted by private security in Minneapolis, sustaining multiple facial contusions, a black eye and injuries to her leg. She needs an estimated $5K to pay for medical bills, legal fees and a new phone and more.”
The Minneapolis Police Department told the Houston Police Department that it has not received any reports of Osman being assaulted in 2020. The department stated that the last contact officers had with Osman was in 2012 for public lewdness and disorderly conduct.
The ex-roommate of Osman also reached out and told detectives that she and Osman were no longer friends after discovering Osman was scamming people and she wanted no part of it. She said Osman reportedly created the GoFundMe in 2020, claiming that someone hit her -- but it was a lie.
At the time of this writing, Osman has not been arrested.
Osman’s criminal history
According court records, Osman has several prior charges in the Virgin Islands; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Hennepin County, Minnesota; Williamson County, Texas.; Travis County, Texas.
Osman is currently on bail for a separate offense from Sept. 22, 2023 for felony assault and domestic violence. She was charged with two accounts of misdemeanor domestic violence in Steele County, Minnesota.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office is asking the court to enter a $50,000 bail on the theft by deception charge she now faces here.
A spokesperson for GoFundMe sent us the following statement:
GoFundMe has zero tolerance for the misuse of our platform and cooperates with law enforcement investigations of those accused of wrongdoing. The fundraiser has been removed from the platform, all donors have been refunded, and Roda Osman has been banned from using the platform for any future fundraisers.
It is not unusual for GoFundMe to pursue legal recourse against those who exploit the generosity of its giving community.