CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) – A woman who collected donations of sick leave and money from coworkers while lying for five years about having breast cancer was arrested Thursday on theft and forgery charges.

Keele Maynor, 38, also received support from local cancer groups, who were surprised to learn she wasn’t receiving treatment.

Maynor was arrested in Union City, Ga., said Bill Cox, the district attorney for Hamilton County, Tenn., where a grand jury indicted her this week. She had been staying just outside Atlanta since leaving Chattanooga after her ruse came to light.

Maynor resigned in a Dec. 12 e-mail to her supervisor at the Chattanooga city land development department, saying she didn’t know why she made up the cancer tale and kept telling it.

“I started fabricating this story about cancer in 2003 and it has snowballed and finally came to a head,” she wrote.

Wrapper trail fingers suspects

PALM BAY, Fla. (AP) – Police say a trail of candy wrappers helped them find five Florida teens suspected of breaking in to a nearby home.

Officers responded to a burglary report Tuesday in Palm Bay on Florida’s central Atlantic coast. An officer then followed a trail of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups packages in the backyard. The officer noticed another wrapper on the front porch of a house near the victim’s home.

Officers found several juveniles at the other house. Police say the teens confessed to the burglary and informed officers that the stolen property was in the attic.

Three of the teens face armed burglary charges and two others face charges of resisting arrest without violence and tampering with evidence.

Plumber cops plea in stolen pipes case

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) – A Pennsylvania plumber faces jail time after using his skills to steal pipes from restaurant bathrooms and sell the purloined metal for scrap.

Daniel Rushton pleaded guilty Wednesday to taking chrome-plated and brass pipes from toilets and urinals at restaurants in suburban communities northwest of Philadelphia.

The 30-year-old Clifton Heights man said he sold the pipes as scrap metal to support a drug habit.

One investigator had said it took the plumber about four minutes to shut off the water and remove the pipes. Some of his exploits were caught on video surveillance cameras.

Prosecutor Tony Gil calls it one of the stranger crimes he’s seen.

Rushton faces similar charges in Delaware County and Philadelphia.

Officer seen in YouTube shove

NEW YORK (AP) – New York City police say an officer seen in a YouTube video body-checking a bicyclist to the pavement during a protest has been kicked off the force, though his lawyer says he resigned.

Police officials said Thursday that Patrick Pogan was dismissed last week. He was suspended las t year after pleading not guilty to criminal charges of filing false paperwork.

His lawyer, Stuart London, insists his 23-year-old client resigned before he could be fired and expects to be vindicated at trial.

The charges stemmed from a cyclist’s July arrest during a Critical Mass ride through Times Square. The monthly rides try to draw attention to transportation alternatives. Police said the cyclist blocked traffic and steered his bike into an officer.

The charges were dismissed after a video of the body-check appeared on YouTube.

AP-ES-02-19-09 2002EST