Bucks man admits false report amid manhunt

A Bucks County man admitted Monday that he fabricated his claim of being accosted in Doylestown last December by a man who looked like mass killer Bradley Stone, a report that diverted police resources in the middle of a manhunt.

Luke Sanderlin, 34, of Doylestown, pleaded guilty to counts of false alarm, false report, and reckless endangerment in a hearing before County Court Judge Rea Boylan. He faces up to eight years in prison.

Wearing a yellow jumpsuit and green prison jacket, Sanderlin, who has been detained since his arrest, did not explain why he made the false report. He barely said anything, and his plea was sandwiched between other routine guilty pleas on a busy morning in court.

That stands in contrast to his attention-grabbing arrest on Dec. 19, which occurred as police were scouring the region for Stone, who had killed six people.

As the manhunt proceeded across northern Montgomery County, Sanderlin apparently told police that he was walking his dog when a man resembling Stone had approached him with a knife and demanded his car keys.

Sanderlin, legally carrying a gun at the time, said he fired three shots at the attacker before the man fled. After he reported the incident, dozens of police officers descended on Doylestown. Among the institutions that went into a lockdown mode were the YMCA, Doylestown Hospital, and Central Bucks High School West.

A day later, Stone was found dead in the woods a half-mile from his Pennsburg home.

Detectives began reevaluating Sanderlin's story, and a few days later, they accused him of fabricating the incident to try to stir interest in an online fund-raising page he had created.

During Monday's plea hearing, Sanderlin's lawyer, James Cunilio, objected to discussing potential motivations.

Outside court, Cunilio said he believed Sanderlin really was approached by a man who resembled Stone, but that Sanderlin had agreed to plead guilty to avoid a harsher sentence if he lost at trial.

"I'm convinced he saw someone," Cunilio said, noting he was disappointed the case did not go in front of a jury.

Sanderlin faces sentencing in about two months, after a presentence investigation and mental health screening, his lawyer said. Until then, he will remain in Bucks County Prison.