Bowling for Soup Rocker Impersonated by Kidnapping Suspect

A case of exploitative celebrity impersonation turned into a harrowing kidnapping case last week, dragging the pop-punk band Bowling For Soup along for the ride. The band’s frontman Jaret Reddick posted a TikTok video last month about a man in the Denver, Colorado area who was apparently impersonating the drummer Gary Wiseman in order to get free food. Reddick and Wiseman laughed about this con artistry at first, but when the imposter became the suspect in a kidnapping the jokes dropped away at once.

Police in Westminster, Colorado received a call about a possible kidnapping on Tuesday, Nov. 29, and they issued an Amber Alert for the 13-year-old girl and the suspect. It soon turned out they were looking for Bradford Eblen – the same man who had allegedly been impersonating Bowling For Soup drummer Wiseman earlier in the month. Reddick had been posting about Eblen’s act and laughing about it with fans on TikTok, but he told ABC News affiliate WFAA that it was a sobering moment when he realized the man was suspected of a truly heinous crime.

@jaretreddick

I guess there IS such a thing!!! 🙂 #identitytheft #identityfraud #bowlingforsoup #freelunch #imposter #fyp

♬ original sound – Jaret Reddick

“This is a whole new level,” he said. “It’s not funny anymore at all… Just to think, though, that days before this, he was pretending to be Gary – and now he’s wanted.”

The real Wiseman then got involved as well. Wiseman is a father himself, and he told reporters that when he read the news “my stomach just dropped.” He then admitted that he was frustrated by the whole impersonation act, though he felt that he shouldn’t be the focus of the story, as he is not the victim of the true crime.

“It’s a real-life instance of a conversation to have with your kids or loved ones,” the drummer said. “People aren’t always who they say they are, and you’ve got to be aware of your situation.”

Eblen was arrested as the prime suspect, but police said that they did not immediately charge him with a crime. They continued conducting interviews and investigating the situation. They were able to detain Eblen on a parole warrant in the meantime.

Bowling For Soup formed in 1994 and burst onto the mainstream in the early-2000s. They found some success with their second major-label album Drunk Enough to Dance, with its most recognizable single being “Girl All the Bad Guys Want,” while the single for their next album “1985” became a viral sensation. At the same time, the group found success writing and recording theme songs for cartoons including Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and Phineas and Ferb.

The band continues writing and performing music today, and Reddick has found a die-hard audience on TikTok and other social media platforms. So far, there have been no public updates on Eblen’s case.