Bedbug bites helped drive a 21-year-old McAdoo man from a Scranton halfway house where he had been ordered to stay for harassing former vice presidential candidate and ex-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, his father said.
Shawn Christy walked out of the Scranton Catholic Charity Center on Nov. 20 because he received more than 300 bedbug bites, his father, Craig Christy, said when explaining the family's version of events that led U.S. marshals to take their son into custody on Wednesday.
"They just blew the story out of proportion," Craig Christy said.
Harassed Palin
Earlier this year, Shawn and Craig Christy both pleaded guilty to making harassing telephone calls to Mrs. Palin and were placed on probation. As a condition of probation, Shawn Christy was ordered in mid-July to spend six months in a halfway house, but his father was allowed to reside at his own home.
About a month ago, one of the Christys visited the Department of Licensing, Inspections and Permits in Scranton to report bedbugs in the halfway house, department Director Mark Seitzinger said.
The manager of the halfway house told the department that workers sprayed for bedbugs twice and would spray a third time to complete the extermination, Mr. Seitzinger said. Staff members at the halfway house also put pads between the box springs and mattresses as a precaution against bugs, he said.
The U.S. Marshal's Office said in a statement that Shawn Christy fled his home and possessed a knife when deputies captured him Wednesday morning. Deputies found him after they received a lead from authorities in Alaska and "developed information."
Returned home
Craig Christy, however, notified probation officers in Pennsylvania and Alaska that his son was home and said the judge who issued the warrant also knew where the young man was.
U.S. Marshal Martin J. Pane said authorities knew where Shawn Christy was, but a probation officer outlined the reasons for his apprehension in an affidavit called a declaration of support for the warrant.
The affidavit from which Mr. Pane read says Shawn Christy became belligerent when a search at the halfway house uncovered contraband - soda and a cellphone - in his backpack. He ran to his room, kicked a hole in the wall and left the premises without permission, the affidavit says.
His father agrees partly with the statement from the marshal's office and the description of events in the warrant: His son had a knife, which his father called a "tool" that he was allowed to have. He also threw a soda bottle during an argument with a worker at the halfway house.
Contact the writer: kjackson@ standardspeaker.com