An 18-year-old tricked a sheriff and an entire school into thinking he was a state senator

An 18-year-old man successfully tricked a teacher, principal, car dealership, and sheriff into thinking he was a newly appointed Ohio state senator, the Toledo Blade reports.

"I was duping to prove a point, that these kinds of things can happen," Izaha Akins said. "They could easily have Googled me and they didn't."

Akins figured out that state Sen. David Burke was set to address a class of Mohawk High School students in Sycamore on Jan. 14. So he called the teacher, Henry Stobbs, explaining that he was replacing Burke, who had resigned due to illness.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The teacher, the principal, the county sheriff, and the car dealership that arranged for Akins' transit to the school Dec. 14 were none the wiser until next month, when Burke showed up to his speaking engagement as planned.

"Mr. Stobbs said that nothing he heard there made him think this guy didn't know what he was doing," said Mohawk Schools Superintendent Ken Ratliff.

For his convincing performance, Akins has been charged with two felonies: impersonating a peace officer and telecommunications fraud.