Local

Police: Drunken panhandler claimed to be state trooper

LATROBE, Pa. — Police say a drunken panhandler charged with harassing the customers of a western Pennsylvania business falsely claimed to be a state trooper -- but was found out when he claimed to work at a nonexistent barracks.

Police in Latrobe, about 40 miles east of Pittsburgh, say a store owner called 911 to complain about the man harassing his customers Friday afternoon.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review says the store owner was concerned because Kevin Cunningham allegedly threated to hit him and said he was a trooper. The dispatcher asked the store owner where Cunningham claimed to be stationed and he said Delmont -- a town several miles away with no barracks.

Online court records don't list an attorney for the 51-year-old Cunningham, and his listed phone number in Latrobe is disconnected.