A Houston woman raised $42,000 after claiming a man she rejected threw a brick a her. She’s just been found guilty of theft
A Houston woman who raised more than $42,000 through GoFundMe, claiming a man threw a brick at her head, has been sentenced to 10 years of probation for theft after she spent the money on spas, restaurants, rideshares, and vacations to New York City and Jamaica.
During sentencing, Roda Osman, 35, was told to calm down repeatedly after a Harris County jury returned a guilty verdict after two and a half hours of deliberations on Wednesday.
The man she falsely accused of hitting her with a brick, Olan Douglas, told KPRC 2 News on Wednesday evening he was happy about the outcome, which includes Osman having to serve 90 days in jail and fully pay back the stolen money.
“That’s crazy, that’s wonderful, Douglas said on Wednesday evening. “Usually nothing happens. I’m very much happy.”
The case had generated so much publicity that when Osman was first charged in 2024, Douglas came forward to tell KPRC 2 News his side of the story, telling the station that he received death threats for a crime he did not commit.
“It’s the hardest thing to do, is to not say anything when the whole world is saying something about you,” he said. “It caused people who I thought really knew me to kind of betray me.”
On 3 September 2023, a call was made to the police about an aggravated assault incident outside a club in Houston. When officers arrived at the scene, they found an “intoxicated, hostile and irate” Osman, who was with her friend.
Osman told the cops that the man, whom she believed to have been her Uber driver, threw a brick at her head when she refused to give him her phone number.
The then 33-year-old added that after she got in the car with her driver, he tried to kidnap her, as she went on to accuse him of being involved in human trafficking, as he had a group of women in the car.
After the incident, Osman went live on Instagram speaking about being hit with a brick. The video quickly went viral.
When the detective tried to contact Osman, they discovered that the number she had provided belonged to her friend. The friend explained that she and Osman had gone to several clubs on the night in question, and they “had a lot to drink.”
After visiting the final club, the duo got into a car when the friend heard Osman yell, “Ouch, why you hit me?”
After speaking with the friend, the police called Osman, she said the man hit her in the face with a brick and did her “own investigation” to find his identity, accusing Doulgas of the alleged crime.
However, when the police reviewed the surveillance footage, they saw Osman, her friend, and Douglas enter the club together before leaving 20 minutes later. The trio entered a car but got out a few minutes later.
The video then shows Osman and Douglas in the middle of a “verbal argument” before she swung her right hand while holding an unknown object, hitting Douglas in the face.
He then responded by swinging his right hand while holding a plastic water bottle, striking her in the face.
After Osman went live on Instagram, a friend created a GoFundMe page on her behalf. About $42,000 was raised after she claimed she was attacked by a Black man when she refused to give her phone number.
During the trial, bank records revealed that all the donated money had been spent. Harris County prosecutor Keith Houston stated that the documents revealed expenditures on restaurants, spas, rideshares, and trips to Jamaica and New York.
Houston told KPRC 2 it was unclear what happened to Osman’s face, but said the leading theory is she hit her head on the car door frame.
The 35-year-old was taken into custody to begin serving her 90-day sentence. She was also given a $50,000 appeal bond, and if posted, the probation sentence and conditions would be suspended until that process was complete.
