Police: San Jose Man Fakes Kidnap, Found Gambling

A man who had been at a casino told police and his girlfriend he was kidnapped and robbed.

Talk about a bluff.

A man who called San Jose police and his girlfriend on Monday night to say he'd been kidnapped was in fact playing high-stakes poker at a casino in San Joaquin County, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

Juan Darwin Martinez, 25, was found in a grocery store parking lot in Lockeford on Tuesday afternoon, after he'd told cops he'd been kidnapped on Monday leaving a San Jose liquor store, according to reports.

He was bound, gagged, and led to a storage shed, where the robbers threatened to kill him but instead made off with $1,500 and his uncashed paycheck, according to the newspaper.

The thieves left him his phone and his car, which still had the keys inside, Garcia told police.

Turns out the money is indeed all gone -- but it's at Jackson Rancheria, where Garcia played Texas Hold 'Em poker from 10 p.m. Monday until 3 a.m. Tuesday, the newspaper reported.

He then told deputies that he'd been pick-pocketed while at the gambling den.
 

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