Bedbugs made him threaten a halfway house staff and run away. That's what the father of 21-year-old Pennsylvanian Shawn Christy, convicted of harassing Sarah Palin and her Alaska lawyers, says caused Christy's recent misbehavior  in the Scranton area, reports the Citizens Voice.

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 arrest their son Wednesday.

"They just blew the story out of proportion," Craig Christy said.

The U.S. Marshals Service said in a statement that Christy fled his home and possessed a knife when deputies ran him down Wednesday morning. Deputies found him after they received a lead from authorities in Alaska.

The warrant issued for Christy said he abused a worker verbally and damaged property at the halfway house.

Craig Christy also was convicted of the Alaska harassment charges. Read more at CitizensVoice.com: Bedbugs blamed for Palin stalker's disappearance from halfway house