National Roundup

South Carolina
Sheriff: ‘Hungry’ burglar ate sandwich, pickle
YORK, S.C. (AP) — Deputies in South Carolina have arrested a man who they say broke into his neighbor’s house and made a sandwich.

The Rock Hill Herald reports  the York County Sheriff’s Office says 55-year-old Joel Puglia of Rock Hill has been charged with burglary and petit larceny after authorities said he entered the locked house Saturday.

The report lists the stolen goods as a drink of clear moonshine, a Clover Valley kosher whole dill pickle, a scoop of Newk’s pimento cheese and two slices of bread.

The homeowner alerted authorities after home surveillance detected motion. He had installed the cameras after noticing things going missing. Puglia, who is renting property from the homeowner, admitted to entering the home on other occasions.

It’s unclear if he has a lawyer.

Pennsylvania
DUI suspect gives her name as Hillary Clinton
CHALKHILL, Pa. (AP) — Authorities say a drunken driving suspect who was chased by police from Maryland into Pennsylvania identified herself as Hillary Clinton.

Pennsylvania State Trooper Robert Politowski says the woman he arrested early Tuesday is actually 36-year-old Holly Lynn Donahoo, of Louisville, Kentucky.

She was being chased by sheriff’s deputies from Garret County, Maryland, and Maryland State Police when she drove into Wharton Township, in Pennsylvania’s Fayette County.

Politowski joined the chase and used spike strips to flatten Donahoo’s tires. She was taken to a hospital, where police say she refused drugs and alcohol testing. She has been jailed on charges including driving under the influence and fleeing or eluding police.

Donahoo doesn’t have an attorney. Her preliminary hearing is set for May 9.

It’s unclear why she identified herself as Hillary Clinton.


Pennsylvania
Cops: Mother drove around with newborn’s corpse
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania woman who police say drove around with her newborn daughter’s body has been jailed on abuse of a corpse and other charges.

Old Lycoming Township police say 37-year-old Chesney Anne Wheeler gave birth at home near Williamsport on April 12, then kept the child’s body in a cardboard box in her car until it was found the next day outside Wilkes-Barre General Hospital.

Online court records don’t list an attorney for Wheeler, but police say Wheeler told them she drove to an out-of-town hospital because she feared doctors would find out she had smoked crack cocaine and used heroin the night before her daughter was born 2 ½ months premature.

Police say an autopsy couldn’t determine if the baby was born alive.

Wheeler remained jailed Wednesday and faces a May 10 preliminary hearing.


Pennsylvania
Cops: Man jailed, bit off tip of woman’s nose
STROUDSBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania man who police say bit the tip off a woman’s nose has been jailed on attempted homicide and other charges.

State troopers arrested 47-year-old Leo Gardner at the scene April 26 in Monroe County after police say men heard her screaming and intervened.

Brittany Ann Seitz told police she was driving to a friend’s house with Gardner when he began acting strangely, then started choking her about 3:30 a.m. Seitz tried to escape, but told police Gardner grabbed her, forced his thumbs in her eyes and said he was going to kill her.

Police say Gardner also bit her cheeks, neck, chest, arms and legs before the bystanders intervened.

Gardner doesn’t have an attorney and faces a May 19 preliminary hearing.

Georgia
Former police officer convicted on false Purple Heart claims
CANTON, Ga. (AP) — A former Georgia police officer has been convicted on six of seven charges related to falsely claiming he received a military Purple Heart.

News outlets reported that Shane Ladner was found guilty Tuesday of five counts of making false statements to the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office and the county tax commissioner to use the honor to get free license plates, as well as one count of a theft by taking. He was found not guilty of one theft charge.

The county sheriff’s office conducted a six-week investigation into Ladner’s Purple Heart claims in 2013, after he and his wife were injured during a wounded veterans’ parade in Texas, drawing national attention.

His wife, Meg Ladner, who lost a leg in the accident, said in testimony that her husband was an “honorable man” who had been treated poorly since the crash.

Ladner had initially said he was wounded in Panama in 1989 during an operation to capture President Manuel Noriega, but his attorneys later said he was awarded the medal after being wounded by shrapnel during a classified drug action in Honduras in 1991.

Superiors disputed the award in testimony. Ladner claimed the medal was lost when he sent it home from Central America. His attorney said during the trial that the Department of Veterans Affairs had verified the Purple Heart, but the attorney could not find the citation confirming receipt.

A sentencing date hasn’t been set. Ladner faces up to five years in prison for each count.

Connecticut
Drugmakers want antitrust lawsuit dismissed
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Six generic drugmakers are asking a federal judge in Connecticut to dismiss a 40-state lawsuit accusing them of artificially inflating and manipulating prices to reduce competition for antibiotic and oral diabetes medication.

The companies filed documents Monday citing a variety of reasons including the states failed to adequately allege deceptive conduct and the states lack standing to sue on behalf of their citizens.

The companies include Heritage Pharmaceuticals, of Eatontown, New Jersey; Aurobindo Pharma USA, of East Windsor, New Jersey; Citron Pharma, of East Brunswick, New Jersey; Mayne Pharma USA, of Raleigh, North Carolina; Mylan Pharmaceuticals of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania; and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA of North Wales, Pennsylvania.

Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen says an investigation into “suspicious” generic drug price increases found evidence “of collusion and anticompetitive conduct” among drugmakers.