Police have been investigating what appears to be the abduction of an unidentified man and woman off an upper Manhattan street: Surveillance footage shows them walking down West 173rd Street in Washington Heights, right before two men appear to run toward them, as well as a minivan that speeds the wrong-way in pursuit. Witnesses heard the pair scream, but now investigators are considering the possibility this was all a joke. UPDATE BELOW: It was a birthday prank—someone found out about a surprise party, so his friends wanted to take it to the next level.
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said that they are looking into the possibility it "may have been a hoax staged among friends to celebrate one of their birthdays." Just like The Game?!
According to the Post's sources, "After finding a least one person linked to the 'kidnapping' — which was caught on video — police believe the incident was just a group of men playing a trick for a friend’s birthday." No missing-persons report was filed in the hours following the incident.
Two girls heard the couple's screams on Friday evening and called the police after seeing them being loaded into the minivan. One observer said someone in the minivan was wearing a mask while another witness told the Post, "The woman looked at the man like she was surprised. Then she got real scared when he grabbed her arm and led her to the car. He was hissing something in her ear. He took her by force. When she got in the car, I could hear her saying, ‘No! No! No!’ as the car door was closing. I could see something was wrong. They drove up the wrong way up Haven, and I ran home. I was scared."
One resident told the Times, "It looked like they were targeted. I don’t think it was random."
The police, which have looked at 16 possible vehicles without any luck, are still investigating the incident. Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). The public can also submit tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
Update: So it was a birthday prank—at least that's what one person involved claims. From the Wall Street Journal:
At about 7:30 pm Sunday, detectives investigating the unusual incident received a call from a 30-year-old man saying the abduction was fake and was part of an elaborate plan to throw a surprise birthday party. The man, who was identified by the official as Julian Mann, told police he and his friends had rented a home in the Poconos in Pennsylvania for the weekend and were only alerted to the panic their prank caused when they returned to Manhattan on Sunday.
Mann’s version of events was confirmed by his six friends, including the couple who had been the subjects of the apparent kidnapping, the official said.
Why did they need to go to such lengths? Because the birthday boy found out about the surprise—so they needed to make it really exciting! The woman seen in the video, the birthday boy's girlfriend, was also in on the "joke."
It doesn't seem like the NYPD will press charges.
