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12/07/2017
Newburgh Heights mayor, council file lawsuit accusing WEWS of defamation over critical story
Newburgh Heights Mayor Trevor Elkins and all four village council members filed a lawsuit accusing a local TV station and one of its reporters of defamation over a story the mayor claims was a "calculated and perverse political smear."
WEWS Channel 5 reporter Jonathan Walsh published a story online Nov. 2 under the headline "How a government-sanctioned scam in Newburgh Heights has taken thousands of dollars from drivers."
The piece included claims that Elkins and Newburgh Heights charge drivers for calling the police after an accident, and that the village runs a widespread "scam" that sends "official-looking bills" to some drivers who aren't told they don't have to pay.
Those claims are false and amount to defamation and portraying Elkins and council members Dorene Kray, Steven Moran, Brian Schaffran and Robert Schippling in a false light, according to the lawsuit filed Thursday in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.
The lawsuit also says that Walsh and the TV station reported the story at the behest of Elkins' political adversaries as he made an unsuccessful bid against Cuyahoga County Councilwoman Shontel Brown to lead the county's Democratic part
