Jon Hand

@jonhand1

A Livonia man was charged with falsely reporting an incident after he allegedly edited a clown image into a photo of Vitale Park in Lakeville, posted it on his Facebook page and then warned people to keep their children out of the park.

Livingston County Sheriff Thomas J. Dougherty said the post on Christopher Hooper's page "caused public alarm" and added to the growing hysteria over clown sightings locally and nationally.

Dougherty said his office was told Monday that Hooper had posted the picture and told his Facebook followers "the clown had then run away when he snapped the picture.

"Hooper went on to advise people that they might not want to allow their kids 'in the park at night or alone.' Hooper then ended his post with 'pass this on as a warning,'" Dougherty said in a release.

Hooper's post was was shared almost 200 times before it was deleted, according to the release.

"The post did cause public alarm with the recent clown issues on social media," the release reads. "The sheriff's office has been investigating the clown concerns since last week with no known credible threat but many residents very concerned."

Hooper was charged with third-degree falsely reporting an incident after he admitted making the post, Dougherty said. The charge is a misdemeanor with a maximum sentence of a year in jail and $1,000 fine. He was arraigned in Livonia Town Court and bail set at $500. He had not posted bail by late Tuesday morning.

Canandaigua clown sighting was a kid clowning around

The charge indicates "A person is guilty of falsely reporting an incident in the third degree when, knowing the information reported, conveyed or circulated to be false or baseless, he or she initiates or circulates a false report or warning of an alleged occurrence or impending occurrence of a crime, catastrophe or emergency under circumstances in which it is not unlikely that public alarm or inconvenience will result."

"We have many parents concerned for their children due to social media blowing up this clown issue," Dougherty said. "With those known concerns this man decided to make a post that caused public alarm to many residents and caused for more police resources to be wasted."

Hooper was taken to Livingston County Jail and is due to be arraigned today.

JHAND@Gannett.com