Arizona police say a 19-year-old man who claimed to have been kidnapped earlier this month has confessed to making up the whole story just to get out of going to work.

On February 10, police responded to calls and found Brandon Soules near a water tower in Coolidge, Arizona. He had both his hands bound behind his back as well as a belt and a bandana stuffed inside his mouth, according to the Casa Grande Dispatch.

During initial interviews with law enforcement, Soules claimed that two masked men hit him in the head, knocking him unconscious. He says they then shoved him inside their vehicle and drove him around before dropping him off at the location where police discovered him.

After further investigation, Coolidge police discovered that Soules had made up the entire story. Soules eventually admitted to lying when police confronted him with the evidence. On Feb. 17, was arrested and charged with false reporting to police.

In a media release, police told members of the community that “no kidnapping or assault occurred” and that that they didn’t need to worry about two masked criminals on the loose. Police also said that Soules “admitted during an interview that he made up the story as an excuse to get out of work.”

Speaking to KNXV-TV, an unidentified officer said that Soules claimed he had been abducted by the offenders in front of his home the morning of Feb. 10, but surveillance footage from the street at that time didn’t show any incident occurring.

According to detectives, Soules also claimed that the kidnapping happened because of a large sum of money his father had hidden somewhere in the community. That also proved to be false.

“He informed us that he at first stuffed a bandana in his mouth, and afterwards, he took off his own belt and bound his hands,” the officer told the news outlet. “[Then] he laid on the ground and scooted out near the side of the road where somebody could see him.”

What job was so bad that Soules faked his own kidnapping to get out of work? Soules was reportedly employed at The Tire Factory, an automotive shop in the area.

Well, Soules’ plan actually worked because the company fired him after news of his arrest broke out.