Former Candidate For Governor Suspected Of Shooting Neighbor
FRESNO (AP) - A man who ran for governor of California earlier this year has been arrested on suspicion of shooting his neighbor in the stomach and killing a horse, officials said Friday.
Tye "Glenn" Champ, 48, was arrested without incident a day after Fresno County Sheriff's officials say he opened fire during a dispute with his neighbor in Prather, a community about 30 miles northeast of Fresno.
Lt. John Golden said Champ drew a pistol on his 40-year-old neighbor and the neighbor's 13-year-old son over work being done on a private road, and shot the man in the stomach. He is also accused of killing a nearby horse that belonged to the injured man. It was not immediately clear whether Champ had an attorney.
Officials said he fled from the shooting in a blue Volkswagen sedan, and deputies in neighboring Tulare County arrested Champ on Friday morning during a traffic stop. He was wanted on suspicion of attempted murder, child endangerment and animal cruelty.
The shooting victim underwent surgery and is expected to survive, Golden said.
A registered sex offender, Champ campaigned as a Republican candidate for governor during this year's primary election, saying he had turned his life around since being in prison and finding God.
During a speech on the final day of the GOP convention, Champ said he represented "a whole new breed of Christian soldier" and that he spent the last 20 years cleaning up his life in God's name. He received 1.8 percent of the vote in the June 3 primary.
"A man of God cannot be bought by money, because we've already been bought by the blood of Jesus Christ," he said in the speech. "I do not want anybody else to be enslaved because of lack of knowledge, and that's what our government is trying to do."
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press.
