Ravenna Mayor Frank Seman is not amused by a fake news post circulating on Facebook, claiming his city is facing a $1.8 million lawsuit.
The fake news story and website is supposedly being run "channel 28," and claims the lawsuit filed against Ravenna was triggered after one of the cities police officers slammed his cruiser into a resident's car causing injuries.
The fake news website includes a disclaimer that the story is a prank, but the disclaimer can't be seen until a Facebook viewer clicks onto the site.
The fake news post has sparked debate online among Ravenna residents.
Seman said his city will conduct an investigation.
"We don't feel good about it at all, and I would hope most of the citizens of this town wouldn't feel good about it," he said. "Some people enjoy the thrill of seeing that happen, and how many hits they get, with complete disregard to the people involved with it. That is a sad state as far as I'm concerned."
News 5 tracked the fake news site to a Ravenna home, where Chris Ring confirmed the post was created by his son, Austin Law, 22.
Ring said he would discuss the post with his son and ask him to take it down.
Seman said the fake news post could generate criminal charges.
"I hope that he realizes that this is more than a joke," he said.
