A Black woman who went viral over a story about a Black man assaulting her with a brick has been accused of scamming GoFundMe donors out of thousands of dollar
Roda Osman, 33, was charged with felony theft by deception after people donated over $40,000 following her viral story, according to charging documents obtained by KRPC. Reporters said she agreed to surrender herself to Houston police on Wednesday (January 17) but didn't show up. The GoFundMe has since been taken down.
Osman blew up on social media in September after a video showed her with gruesome injuries from a Black man. She tearfully claimed the assailant threw a brick at her after the woman declined to give him her phone number outside a Houston club.
“What have I ever to anybody in my life to deserve this,” she said. “I have never done anything in my life to hurt anybody. Literally, a man asked me for my number and I said no. And he picked up a brick, in front of so many men, and was like ‘what are you going to do?'”
Police responded to reports of an aggravated assault on September 3, making contact with Osman and a female friend. Osman was reportedly intoxicated and aggressive when speaking with officers at the time and provided detectives with the phone number of her friend, who doesn't live in Houston.
According to the original police report, Osman claims she was assaulted on Schumacher Lane and suspected the brick-throwing man was her Uber driver. Surveillance footage obtained by police didn't support her initial statements. Video showed a man, later identified as Olan Douglas, smacking Osman in the face with a water bottle outside a vehicle, charging documents read.
Osman's friend doesn't believe the victim was struck with a brick, records state. Police claim they didn't make contact again with Osman until September 19, when she reportedly altered her story and hung up on investigators over the phone.
Detectives later received a tip about a similar incident involving Osman that happened three years ago in Minneapolis. Officials found out she created a GoFundMe account after she claimed a Black man hit her and needed support to pay her medical bills, reports state.
The description of the fundraiser allegedly 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 Harris County District Attorney’s Office requested Osman be held on $50,000 bail when she's taken into custody.
KRPC also received a statement from a GoFundMe spokesperson over the incident:
"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."