PALMER -- A 25-year-old Florida man who showed up in Bristol Palin's Wasilla driveway Sunday evening after climbing off a third-floor balcony was arrested on felony stalking charges, court documents show.
Peter P.W. Ferrero remained jailed at Mat-Su Pretrial Facility on Tuesday on $25,000 bail.
Palin recognized Ferrero's name right away because he has sent her "approximately 1,000 Facebook messages," according to a sworn affidavit accompanying the charges from Wasilla police officer Brandon Gray.
Ferrero also communicated with Palin's younger sister, 20-year-old Willow Palin, and apparently thought he was romantically involved with her, according to Facebook posts he wrote.
Palin called police at 6:15 p.m. Sunday after she got home with her young son Tripp and found the man in her driveway, the affidavit says. Ferrero took off his sunglasses and said his name was "Peter Paul" -- a familiar name to the 23-year-old daughter of former Alaska governor and 2008 vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin.
Bristol Palin "told Ferrero to back off several times and he continued to approach her," Gray wrote. "Palin said she was scared that Ferrero might hurt her so she dropped her stuff, grabbed her son, and ran across the street to call 911."
She later told police she told Ferrero to stop sending her Facebook messages and blocked him, but he kept using new identities to send her messages.
Willow Palin was also at the Wasilla address on Sunday evening. She said a man calling himself "Peter Paul" had called her and found her on social media and "thought he was in some type of relationship with her," Gray wrote.
Both Bristol and Willow Palin filed petitions for short-term stalking protective orders in Anchorage court on Monday.
A Facebook page that apparently belongs to Ferrero includes several posts from October 2011 where he implies that he and Willow were romantically linked.
Ferrero had his first court appearance in Palmer District Court Monday afternoon. His bail was set at $25,000 cash/corporate and a $1,500 cash performance bond, according to a state court database.
Todd Palin, Bristol and Willow's father, said he was advised by his attorney not to say anything when contacted Tuesday morning about Ferrero's arrest.
Palin attorney John J. Tiemessen said the family "appreciates the reaction of the Wasilla police department and the district attorney's office and are cooperating fully with the investigation."
The Palin family has dealt with stalkers before. The state filed restraining orders against a 20-year-old Pennsylvania man and his father starting in 2010 after the younger man was accused of stalking Sarah Palin and his father of "barraging Palin's parents with antagonizing telephone messages," according to an Associated Press story.
Bristol Palin last year obtained a six-month protective order against Michael Cummings, a 39-year-old Texan who in 2012 sent her an engagement ring and showed up at her parents' house in Wasilla on Tripp's birthday, according to her hand-written notes in a protective order petition filed in Anchorage court. A Palmer judge extended the order in May.
Police who came out to investigate Palin's latest stalker on Sunday say they talked to a neighbor who saw Ferrero on a lower porch an hour before officers started arriving at 6:23 p.m. and spotted the man about 300 yards from the home.
Ferrero later told Gray he left Florida and got to Alaska on Sept. 3 to "live the Alaskan life," the Wasilla officer wrote in the affidavit.
Ferrero said he knew Palin lived in the area but intended to stay at a bed and breakfast nearby, the affidavit says. He told the officer he "got hot" looking for the place and threw a gray sweatshirt onto the balcony, then knocked on the front door to get help retrieving it. He got no answer, but looked through the window and saw photos of Palin's son so he knew she lived there.
Then Ferrero climbed onto the third-story balcony and tried unsuccessfully to open the locked door, according to the affidavit. Police later found some rolling papers and a green leafy substance that looked like marijuana on the balcony, and an iPhone charger and Anchorage hotel receipt on a bottom porch.
Ferrero stayed on the balcony until he heard a vehicle drive in, climbed down, and approached Palin in the driveway, the document says.
"Ferrero said he wanted to have 10 minutes of Palin's time to explain his issues to her. Ferrero said he has also been following a blog created by Palin in June 2014 and has also sent her messages," the officer wrote. "Ferrero said he has also called Willow Palin several times and may have left Willow messages at her place of employment."
Reporter Jerzy Shedlock contributed to this report.