(Left to right) Joseph Vicario, 25, of Bridgeview; Amanda Woods, 21, of Oak Lawn; and Shane Ablan, 26, of Chicago Ridge. | Bridgeview Police Department

BRIDGEVIEW, IL — A son faked his own kidnapping with the help of his girlfriend and another friend to scam ransom money out of his mother so he could pay off gambling debts, Bridgeview police said.

Joseph Vicario, 25, of Bridgeview, along with Amanda Woods, 21, of Oak Lawn, and Shane Ablan, 26, of Chicago Ridge, were each charged with felony disorderly conduct.

Police said they received a call Friday evening from Vicario's frantic mother, Rose Vicario, 44, of the 9000 block of Martin Lane, Bridgeview, stating that her son had been kidnapped.

Mrs. Vicario told police her son, Joseph, had left the house hours before with his girlfriend, Amanda. Later that evening, the mom said she received a phone from the girlfriend saying they were being held by unknown assailants who demanded a $3,000 ransom.

During one call, Woods pleaded for money from the mother, who said she could hear her son being beaten in the background and yelling, "don't hit me, don't hit me." Police said there were noises in the background like someone being hit.

Throughout the evening, Rose Vicario received numerous text messages from her son's cell phone, and the kidnappers' ransom demands increased from $3,000 to $4,000.

The mom texted them back, begging the "kidnappers" not to hurt her son or Amanda. She said she would pay the money. She immediately called Bridgeview Police, who pinged her son's cell phone to find his location, police said.

The pings placed Vicario's cell phone moving between Oak Lawn and Chicago Ridge. Bridgeview police issued a bulletin for Woods' car, a 2013 white Mazda. Oak Lawn police spotted Woods' car near 95th Street and Melvina Avenue.

Oak Lawn officers found Woods driving with Vicario sitting next to her in the passenger seat. Their pal, Shane Ablan, was sitting in the back seat.

The Oak Lawn cops asked if everyone was OK, prepared for a possible kidnapping scenario. Bridgeview police arrived and took the three into custody, and brought them back to the Bridgeview police station. All three allegedly admitted to faking the kidnapping.

Vicario confessed to masterminding the kidnapping; his girlfriend and friend agreed to help, police said. During the phone calls Amanda made to his mother, Alban was smacking his hands near the cell phone while Vicario screamed "don't hit me, don't hit me," pressuring his mom into paying the "ransom," police said.

During the interrogation, Bridgeview Police Chief Walter Klimek said Vicario bragged he had tried the fake kidnapping scheme before and it worked.

"I want to thank area police departments for the assistance we received and also the mother for calling police right away and bringing us in to help," Klimek said. "We were able to immediately identify the individuals and locate them quickly. Who knows where this could have gone."

All three were charged Saturday morning with felony disorderly conduct and are being held pending a bond hearing.

Woods also has a pending case stemming from an arrest for possession of black market amphetamines on Jan. 25. Vicario, a passenger in Woods' car at the time, was charged with assault and disorderly conduct.