Backyard shooting brings arrest

PALMER -- A Wasilla man will appear in court Aug. 8 on a felony charge of gun theft that is part of an ongoing burglary investigation by the Alaska State Troopers' Palmer office.

Christian D. Hadley, 31, was arrested last month by troopers after allegedly shooting toward a neighbor's house. When troopers arrived at 3:30 p.m. on July 14, Hadley's neighbor Kari Lynn Stewart said "rounds were flying over her head," according to a report by Trooper Vance Peronto.

Stewart told him the shots were close enough she could hear them pass above her, the report said. She put her children into her car and drove to Hadley's home at 8027 W. Lost Valley Drive to talk to him, Peronto said, and the man was holding one opened beer and one unopened beer when she arrived.

After telling him the bullets were endangering her, Stewart went home and again heard the shooting, the report said.

"She stated that she recognized the sound of a .22 and a pistol that was considerably louder," Peronto said in the report.

When Peronto confronted Hadley, he noticed several empty beer bottles in the trash can along with several .22 caliber casings and about 20 spent .45 caliber casings.

"As I spoke with Christian I observed him fumble with his driver's license, and even drop it to the ground once," Peronto wrote. "I observed as Christian dropped one cigarette that he was attempting to light."

Hadley allegedly said he was shooting his .22-caliber rifle and .22-caliber pistol, but the .45 caliber casings were from shots fired by a friend who owns a .45-caliber pistol. Peronto said Hadley told him he accidentally shot a hole in the hood of his Toyota pickup truck.

"Christian did not understand the problem with shooting where he was shooting nor that there was anything wrong with drinking alcohol while shooting," Peronto's report said.

Hadley was carrying a North American Arms .22-caliber Mini-Master revolver in his waistband, and a computer check showed that it was stolen, Peronto said. It allegedly was taken during a residential burglary on July 8 that netted 50 firearms, according to a trooper report, although Peronto said Hadley told him he found the gun beside Vine Road in Wasilla.

Hadley also had a pipe with burnt residue and unburned material that field-tested positive for marijuana "stuck down his pants in the area of his crotch," according to Peronto's report.

The trooper arrested Hadley on charges of second-degree theft, fourth-degree misconduct involving weapons, reckless endangering and sixth-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance. He was lodged at Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility.