MEDINA, Ohio — Brian Rini’s 15 minutes of fame may soon be up after prosecutors say the 23-year-old, who surfaced this week in Kentucky, lied.
Instead of being Timmothy Pitzen, the 6-year-old who went missing in 2011, police say Rini is a “master manipulator.”
Chief Tim Sopkovich of Brunswick Hills first encountered him in 2017.
Rini had convinced a realtor to show him a home where he memorized the key code, then threw a party that caused $2,000 in damage.
“Convinced neighbors that he was going to be moving in and that he was going to have a home party, housewarming party that night, which he did where you know drugs, alcohol, tattoos in there, there’s evidence of that,” Chief Sopkovich said.
Police traced the party to Rini through a receipt in the trash. He served 18 months and was recently released.
Medina Police Chief Edward Kinney said his department encountered Rini 129 times over the years, on everything from a bomb threat to passing bad checks.
Prosecutors say he also claimed to be the victim of juvenile sex trafficking two different times.
“On those occasions he had been discovered, his true identify had been discovered after he had been fingerprinted,” U.S. Attorney Ben Glassman said.
This time, it was a DNA test that proved Rini’s story to be false.
When confronted, investigators say he admitted he had seen a recent news story on Timmothy Pitzen and just wanted to get away from his own family.
Johnathan Rini, his estranged brother, says he suffers from several mental illnesses.
“He’s been doing stupid stuff, not this serious, but he’s been doing stupid stuff as long as I can remember,” Rini said.
Yet for Timmothy Pitzen’s heartbroken relatives, there is now a renewed sense of hope.
“The coverage that this has brought to Tim, I hope somebody sees him or he sees this and goes and gets help,” said Timmothy's uncle, Charles Pitzen.
On Friday, Brian Rini was charged for lying to a federal agent, which carries a maximum penalty of eight years in federal prison.
He is being held without bond in Ohio.
WATCH | Will Ujek had more on this story on Channel 3 News at 11
