Edinburg man faces charges in car crashes, purse-snatching

Edward Palmer also is a suspect in the robbery of an elderly woman.
HERMITAGE, Pa. -- An Edinburg man capped off a weekend of mayhem with a four-car crash on East State Street, police say.
Hermitage Police said Edward Palmer, 41, of Westly Lane was arrested at Sharon Regional Health System on Monday after he was treated for injuries he suffered in the crash.
Authorities say he also was involved in a robbery that injured an 80-year-old Boardman woman at the Sparkle Market on Market Street in Boadman on Friday morning.
Hermitage police said Palmer was found with the woman's credit cards and checks. They believe he cashed about 25 of the woman's checks in the Hermitage area over the past few days.
Palmer is in the Mercer County Jail after failing to make bond. He is being held on a combined bail of $100,000. His preliminary hearing is set for 1:30 p.m. Oct. 28 before District Justice James Russo.
Chain of events
Pennsylvania State Police said Palmer showed up at McCandless Ford in Mercer, Pa., around 2 p.m. Monday and asked to test drive a 2004 silver Ford Mustang. He quickly left with the car and the salesman called police. They later learned that the pickup truck he drove to the dealership had been stolen in Armstrong County, Pa., state police said.
Hermitage police say they spotted him speeding about 2:10 p.m. on Pa. Route 62 and an officer watched him go through a red light before starting a chase. The Mustang initially slowed for the police, but then took off, according to police. A second police car joined in, but couldn't catch the Mustang before it rammed into a Nissan Sentra leaving the Hermitage Towne Plaza.
The Nissan, driven by April Richardson, 39, of Hermitage was pushed into a car stopped in the eastbound lane of East State Street driven by Paul Rohrdanz, 57, of Masury, police said.
The Mustang continued head on into a sport utility vehicle driven by Dora Clark, 50, of Mercer.
Police said Richardson had the most severe injuries, losing consciousness at the crash site. She was in satisfactory condition Tuesday morning in Sharon Regional Health System.
Variety of charges
Palmer was arraigned on charges of receiving stolen property, fleeing and eluding police, recklessly endangering another person, driving under the influence and aggravated assault by vehicle while driving under the influence in the crash.
A second set of charges filed relating to the use of the elderly woman's checks and credit cards include forgery, criminal attempt to commit theft by deception, access device fraud and receiving stolen property.
Boardman police said they are still investigating the elderly woman's robbery and had not filed charges Tuesday.
Reports show that the woman was standing in the store's parking lot when a man got out of a white car and pushed her, causing her to fall and strike her head on the pavement. The man then grabbed her purse and drove off.