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Christiana enters plea of not guilty |
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Saturday, 13 September 2008 |
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By Mike Bodine
Register Staff
9-11-2008 The San Francisco man linked to the rash of vandalism and burglaries near local trailheads was arraigned Tuesday in Inyo County Superior Court.
John Christiana, 47, pleaded not guilty to felony charges of auto theft, grand theft and receiving stolen property as filed by the District Attorney’s Office. According to Inyo County Jail personnel, other pending charges include felony vandalism and the misdemeanor charge of carrying a loaded firearm in a public place. His bail was set at $500,000, and he’s still in custody.
“There is enough hard evidence to indicate that Christiana is connected to the spree of vandalisms in the Bishop Creek and Big Pine Canyon area,” Inyo County Sheriff’s Investigator Jeff Hollowell said Wednesday.
Inyo County Sheriff’s Detective Kelvin Johnston said the investigation linking Christiana to other crimes in Inyo and other counties is still ongoing. Johnston said similar acts of vandalism have been reported in Mono County, including cut gas lines of vehicles. He explained the investigation entails gathering and searching through paper work and other files to determine if other crimes are linked and, hopefully, construct a time line of events.
Johnston added that Hollowell is working with Forest Service and state fire marshals and other investigators to determine if Christiana was involved in the early August vandalism of the summit laboratory on White Mountain Peak or the Sept. 4 fire that destroyed the Schulman Grove Visitor Center, also in the White Mountains.
“It is critical to underscore that at this point the vandalism affecting White Mountain Research and the fire at the Forest Service Interpretive Center are under investigation, and any tie-in is speculative,” Hollowell said. “The Inyo County Sheriff’s Department is working closely with Bishop Police Department, U.S. Forest Service and Mono County agencies to thoroughly analyze all evidence and aggressively pursue punitive action.”
Inyo National Forest Public Information Officer Nancy Upham said Wednesday that fire investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the blaze, adding that there is no estimate when any facts will be released. Upham said investigators are doing interviews, sending off various samples for analysis and collecting as much data as possible. She said they don’t want to jump to any conclusions.
As for Christiana, Johnston explained that items found in his vehicle indicate he is a probably a mountain climber. Johnston also noted that “he seems to have a serious problem with the U.S. government.”
Christiana’s MySpace.com page seems to contain information supporting both of those assertions.
The emoticon he chose to describe his mood on his MySpace.com page is “betrayed.”
Christiana is an accomplished mountaineer, climbing the Seven Summits, the highest peaks on each continent, including Mt. Everest and Mt. Vinson in Antarctica. He would tap into these experiences for his motivational talks, “John’s Everest Motivational Talks Experience,”that he gave free of charge at churches and specialty shops throughout Southern California in 2005 and 2006, according to his MySpace.com page.
On his page, he quotes from his journal, May 9, 2005, just before climbing Everest, “To summit, I have to push myself to extremes never before realized by me, which is pretty out there.”
A blog entry from June 27, 2008 reveals another side to Christiana. He accuses the U.S. government of wiring his brain. “When unconscious, (government agents) capture and wire up your brain, against your will, to a government device and torture or steal your private thoughts or ideas or inflict their own thoughts or ideas into your brain while you sleep, either causing or listening to your dreams (do you not own your brain that your Creator endowed upon you?)”
He stated that on May 10, 2008, while in Crawford, Texas, United States Secret Service detained him against his will for more than two hours. He said Secret Service told him he may have a micro chip implanted in his brain. Christiana further states on his page that the U.S. government has “threatened, blackmailed or committed bribery against my blood family and friends so they must lie about their knowledge of these U.S. government actions.”
Christiana also states that businesses, establishments and other organizations have been threatened by the U.S. government to discriminate against him, contaminate him or play psychological games with him. These organizations include Circuit City, Starbucks, The Olive Garden restaurant and ABC’s Al Michaels and John Madden.
Other blog entries include statements disowning his sister, parents and uncle, conspiracy theories about President Bush’s secret society and brain implants and several quotes from Revolutionary War hero Patrick Henry.
As reported earlier, Christiana was arrested early Sunday morning, Sept. 7, in Lone Pine as he attempted to flee Lone Pine High School after Inyo County sheriff’s deputies reported a strong smell of gasoline in the vicinity. Christiana and his vehicle, which had been reported stolen from a rental car agency in Southern California, reeked of gasoline and the car was filled with gas cans.
After booking Christiana for auto theft, sheriff’s investigators processed his vehicle and found items allegedly connecting him to the rash of vandalism to cars in the Bishop and Big Pine Creek areas; specifically, they found the “instrument” used to smash the windows. Sheriff’s personnel also found in his vehicle items that had been reported stolen from residences in Big Pine Canyon. Deputies are currently comparing vandalism photos to evidence recovered in Christiana’s vehicle.
While the excess gas cans in Christiana’s possession have been cause for speculation regarding possible connection to arson in the area, arson as of yet has not been officially blamed for the Schulman Grove Visitor Center destruction. Hollowell said Monday that it was still to be determined whether Christiana used the gas cans when illegally siphoning from other cars or what the exact use of the cans was.
Christiana is scheduled to appear for a settlement conference in Independence on Tuesday, Sept. 16 at 9 a.m.
The Sheriff’s Department is asking anyone with additional, applicable information to please call 878-0383, or the anonymous Secret Witness tip line at 873-7209.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 07 October 2008 )
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