IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

McCain worker reaches deal in hoax assault

A McCain campaign volunteer accused of making up a story about being robbed and assaulted by a man who disliked her McCain bumper sticker will enter a program for first-time offenders.
Attack McCain Sticker
Ashley Todd, a 20-year-old college student from College Station, Texas, told investigators she made up a story about a politically motivated knife attack.Keith Srakocic / AP
/ Source: The Associated Press

A McCain campaign volunteer accused of making up a story about being robbed and assaulted in Pittsburgh by a man who disliked her McCain bumper sticker will enter a program for first-time offenders.

Under the deal announced in court Thursday, 20-year-old Ashley Todd will be released from jail and required to undergo mental health treatment. Her record eventually will be expunged as long as she goes to treatment, stays out of trouble and keeps authorities apprised of her whereabouts.

Todd, of College Station, Texas, has been jailed since Oct. 24, when police say she admitted making up a story about being robbed near a Pittsburgh bank and then assaulted by a man who scraped a backward letter "B" into her cheek.

Todd, who was charged with making a false police report, did not have to enter a plea.

Police said Todd couldn't explain why she invented the story.