California IN BRIEF : HAYWARD : Quadriplegic Held on Heroin Charge

A quadriplegic suspected of using his wheelchair battery compartments to smuggle $3.5 million worth of China white heroin into Berkeley has been arrested, authorities said. John Leo McLaughlin, 39, a hemophiliac who contracted the AIDS virus through a blood transfusion, was arrested at a relative’s cabin in Humboldt County on March 21, Hayward police said. Two others arrested at the cabin were McLaughlin’s wife, Supin Pondewey, 42, and William James Saha, 31. They were being held at Alameda County’s Santa Rita Jail. McLaughlin, who authorities said smokes heroin to relieve his pain, was listed in stable condition at Highland General Hospital in Oakland, where he is under police supervision, hospital officials said. All three have been charged with possession of heroin for sale and transportation of heroin and are being held on a bond of $10 million each. They are scheduled to appear in Hayward Municipal Court on Thursday.