Weymouth Man Faked Water Wizz Kidnapping Story: Police

WEYMOUTH, MA – A Weymouth man was arrested this week and charged with falsifying a report about an attempted child kidnapping at a Wareham water park. Matthew McGonnigal, 27, claimed he interrupted the attempted abduction of a girl in the Water Wizz parking lot and reported what happened to police.

McGonnigal's alleged actions became the subject of a viral social media post by his girlfriend, who hailed him as a hero. The only problem? Police say it never happened.

According to reports, McGonnigal was arrested Thursday and charged with falsely reporting a crime, impeding a police investigation and unlawful wiretapping. McGonnigal allegedly tried to secretly tape the officers who confronted him about the story, constituting a violation of the state's wiretapping law, CBS Boston reported.

In a July 23 statement on Facebook, Water Wizz categorically denied the incident and assured park customers a police officer was posted at the front gate that day. The post described the social media story as "vicious and destructive posting" and "vile."

Read the full statement below.

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