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Former Navy SEAL Christopher Heben is accused of lying about the circumstances of his shooting.

(Lynn Ischay, Plain Dealer file)

AKRON, Ohio — The former Navy SEAL who gained national fame after being shot in a Bath Township parking lot in March is now accused of lying about the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Christopher Mark Heben, 44, is charged with obstructing justice and falsification in Akron Municipal Court. He is scheduled for an arraignment on Sept. 11. The charges carry a maximum penalty of nine months in jail and a $1,750 fine.

Bath Township Police Chief Mike McNeely said a detective spent 30 hours a week for five months investigating the shooting.

"We would give that kind of treatment to anyone who was shot," McNeely said. "We investigated it to the end, because that's what we do."

Heben told Bath police on March 28 that a man shot him in the stomach outside the Mustard Seed Market and Café after an altercation in the parking lot, where the driver of a car backed into him.

Heben previously said he yelled at the driver about getting hit, and was shot when he returned to his car after forgetting his wallet.

McNeely said that after dozens of interviews and reviewing of surveillance footage, investigators believe that Heben was shot somewhere other than the shopping center parking lot.

Court records say Heben lied to investigators about the location of the shooting and which route he took to the Bath Police Department after the shooting.

Messages left for Heben and his attorney, Kerry O'Brien, were not immediately returned.

About the same time the police announced the charges, Heben posted a photo on his Facebook page with the caption: "Reaching a goal is noteworthy. But the real story often lies in the climb!" The post elicited 315 "likes" and drew 41 comments in the first hours it was up, some who offered support and others expressing anger at Heben.

Heben served in the Navy SEALs from 1996 to 2006 and since has been featured on regional television, national radio and is a regular fixture on the Fox News network.

Here's Heben telling his story in an April 9 interview on the WMMS morning show Rover's Morning Glory:

Heben's website says he's the founder of INVICTVS Group, which delivers "corporate/personal security and training services, as well as subject matter expertise to the news media and entertainment industry."

He rose to prominence as a military analyst in the wake of SEAL Team Six's operation that ended in the death of Osama Bin Laden. He appeared in hundreds of interviews on television and cable news networks and radio networks such as NPR, Discovery Channel and History Channel.

His website also lists him as the founder of SEAL Team Consulting which sells apparel, nutritional supplements and personal appearances.

Heben has a criminal history and had his physician's assistance license suspended indefinitely by the Ohio Medical Board. He pleaded no contest in July 2008 to three counts of forgery in Lake County. Heben was sentenced to 33 days in jail and two years on probation in that case.

The State Medical Board of Ohio suspended his license indefinitely accusing him of "illicit forging of prescriptions for controlled substance," according to a copy of the board' findings.

He's also featured in several videos for a company called Medical Security International that shows him training staff members at area police departments and Cleveland Clinic.

Medina County Common Pleas Judge Christopher Callier allowed Heben to erase the disability to own weapons that comes with a felony drug conviction on Sept. 13, 2011. Heben, through his attorney, argued that he is a decorated combat veteran that worked for the private security firm Blackwater Worldwide for two years after serving as a Navy SEAL.

The attorney, Patrick Quinn of Willoughby, also argued Heben needed to be allowed to own weapons in order to train hospital security guards, which his company did for several hospitals, including the Cleveland Clinic.

MEDICAL SECURITY INTERNATIONAL EXTENDED REEL 8.18.10 from Story Council on Vimeo.