A whole bag of mushrooms, 3 days later DE student found in Conn.

Cops: Stoned Student Steals Car From LGA, Gets Lost In Conn.

POSTED: 11:20 am EDT July 12, 2004
UPDATED: 6:36 pm EDT July 12, 2004



CANAAN, Conn. -- A Delaware college student ate a bag of hallucinogenic mushrooms and drove around in a pair of stolen cars before arriving, confused, on a mountain in northwest Connecticut police said.

Paul Cunningham, 21, hiked to a nearby home Thursday night and asked to call 911, police said.

"I think I stole a car," Cunningham told a dispatcher. "I'm not sure."

Police said Cunningham, of Dover, Del., confessed that eating an entire bag of mushrooms, "probably wasn't a good idea." He allegedly told investigators that he had no idea how many laws he broke during a three-day excursion that took him 300 miles from home.

A student at Wilmington College, he told a state trooper that he bought the drugs in Dover on Monday, according to the Republican-American of Waterbury. The next day, he went for a drive and twice got lost in Connecticut.

He told police he remembers taking a train to LaGuardia Airport in New York, where he found a car with its keys in it. He's unsure where he went from there.

"I once again found myself lost in Connecticut," Cunningham reportedly told police.

After locking the keys in the stolen car, Cunningham allegedly stole a van from a Southbury rest stop.

In Canaan, he decided to climb Music Mountain to see what was on the other side, police said. Investigators believe the exercise cleared Cunningham's head.

"I want to correct my mistakes," Cunningham reportedly told Trooper Andre Roy. "In retrospect, this was a bad idea."

He volunteered a written confession, police said. He was arraigned Friday and was held on $2,500 bail. Both stolen vehicles were recovered.

© 2004 by The Associated Press