(Newser) – Talk about sad: A man bound himself with duct tape and claimed he'd been kidnapped only to avoid facing his girlfriend, the New York Post reports. New York police say they found Rahmell Pettway, 36, bound and looking beat up last week between two parked cars in Brooklyn. At first Pettway "couldn't recall" what had happened, but later said two guys in a minivan kidnapped him last month. One little giveaway: The roll of duct tape was still dangling from his wrists when police found him.

"He’s a total moron," says a source in law enforcement. "It was a pathetic attempt to pull the wool [over] her eyes." Pettway apparently hadn't called his girlfriend for a couple of weeks and didn't dare face her. "The officers were asking him, ‘Are you OK? Are you OK?'" says a woman who saw the scene. "That’s something very sick. Just be a man and face the consequence." Police charged Pettway with filing a false report. He had already been arrested 14 times, mostly for assault, marijuana, and robbery. (Read more arrest stories.)

