PITTSBURGH — A self-described community activist running an underdog campaign for mayor has apologized and said he'll plead guilty to drunken driving charges — after first claiming the charges were a “weak, feeble attempt to discredit” him.

Abdula Jamal Richardson, 36, was arrested at about 3 a.m. Wednesday after Pittsburgh police said they found him slumped over the wheel of a minivan with the engine running. A criminal complaint filed by Officer John Suzensky, who is black like Richardson and the other two officers involved, said Richardson refused a blood test and “became verbally hostile stating that he was going to be mayor repeatedly” and berating the officers for being “subservient to the white man.”

Richardson is one of four Democrats in the May 21 race.

ALTOONA — A former office employee has been charged with stealing more than $45,000 from the Sheetz convenience store chain.The Altoona Mirror reported Thursday that 45-year-old Catherine Josefik, of Philipsburg, allegedly stole the money from September through March, while working as the company's credit and budgeting manager. The company, which has more than 440 stores in six states, is based in Altoona.Defense attorney Matthew McClenahen says Josefik is very “embarrassed and remorseful” and “ashamed of this and will pay back every cent to Sheetz.”Company officials say the thefts were uncovered in a routine audit and turned over to the police. No customer information or funds were compromised in what the company says was a purely “internal” theft.