In a bizarre and bewildering saga that has gripped the city of Houston, the limelight shines on Roda Osman, the woman who catapulted to viral fame for her harrowing tale of a brick assault outside a local club -- a narrative that authorities now assert to be untrue.
The latest twist in this unfolding drama reveals that Osman, aged 33, has finally surrendered to the police.
Recommended Videos
Charged with felony theft by deception, Osman had initially pledged to turn herself in on Thursday.However, the promised surrender did not materialize. Now, new court records bring clarity to the situation, confirming that Osman surrendered to the authorities this morning.
As Houston grapples with this strange sequence of events, recent court documents shed light on Osman’s legal status. She is now reportedly free on a $10,000 bond, awaiting her arraignment scheduled for March 5. As part of her bond conditions, Osman had to surrender her passport.
The unfolding drama began when Osman’s claims of a vicious attack circulated widely on social media, eliciting an outpouring of sympathy and support from the online community. However, the narrative took a dark twist when it was exposed that Osman had allegedly exploited her distressing story to raise over $42,000 on GoFundMe under false pretenses.
The charges against Osman are severe, accusing her of fabricating significant elements of the story she presented to the police. The incident dates back to September when Osman claimed she was assaulted with a brick by an unknown man after rejecting his advances outside a club. Her social media post, which did not include any footage of the alleged assault, sparked widespread debates online about the credibility of her story.
According to a charging document, Osman reported to the police that she was hit in the face with a brick and also claimed to have narrowly escaped a kidnapping attempt by a supposed Uber driver. However, a subsequent review of local surveillance footage by a detective painted a different picture.
In the video, Osman is seen in the company of a friend and the individual she later pointed to as her assailant. The video reportedly depicts Osman slapping the individual, who retaliates by striking her back, wielding a water bottle in hand.
The footage contradicted Osman’s claims of a brick assault and raised doubts about the authenticity of her story.
A friend who was with Osman on the night of the incident reportedly told police that she did not believe Osman was hit with a brick. Despite these inconsistencies, the initial social media posts led to a fundraiser on GoFundMe that garnered hundreds of donations, totaling at least $42,000. The crowdfunding page has since been deactivated.
This isn’t the first time Osman has allegedly employed such tactics. In 2020,she reportedly created another GoFundMe page claiming she was assaulted by a private security guard in Minneapolis, a claim disputed by a friend who previously stayed with Osman.