'Camel slapper' selling shoes on eBay

Christopher Lee Allen of Santa Rosa didn’t expect to become the subject of public attention, at least not like this.

But now that the 23-year-old is being called a “camel slapper” by friends and a “puncher” by news media, radio hosts and bloggers, he said Thursday that it’s his turn to laugh.

Allen is selling on eBay the shoes he was wearing when he was arrested in Vallejo on Sunday after park officials said a witness saw him “slapping” a camel on the rear at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.

“I’m really not trying to capitalize but trying to show people with all the media attention it got how stupid it is and how things get blown out of proportion,” Allen said Thursday.

The size 9 “camel slapper shoes” listed under Allen’s seller name of “707cali23” had yet to be bid on Thursday afternoon. The starting bid is 99 cents for the black Adidas and under the moniker “Camel Slappin’ Chris,” Allen has promised he will autograph the shoes.

“That’s really obnoxious and it’s so disrespectful,” said park spokeswoman Nancy Chan on Thursday. “He should actually be apologizing for his actions rather than doing something like that, which is not funny.”

Chan said some park visitors have submitted online comments calling Allen a “despicable human being” and urging the park to press charges.

The park is leaving the charges up to the District Attorney.

Thursday was Allen’s second day out of Solano County Jail, where he was held on suspicion of misdemeanor cruelty to animals and misdemeanor probation violation. That violation “may be for a DUI a year and a half ago, or maybe a petty theft,” he said musingly.

He and some friends were trying Thursday to come up with catch phrases for t-shirts they plan to sell with a picture of a camel and Allen’s face.

People have it all wrong about the weekend incident, Allen said, which he referred to as a “mistake” that was “blown out of proportion” and widely misreported by the media.

Here’s how park and police officials explained what happened Sunday:

Park security officers had planned to cite Allen after a 16-year-old witness reported she saw him slap a camel on the rear, Chan said.

But then Allen decided to run during questioning, scaling a 12-foot fence and hopping into a car driven by his friend, Chrissy E. Thatcher, 22, of San Rafael, Vallejo police said.

The pair eventually were arrested by police on Highway 37.

Here’s how Allen explained the incident on Thursday:

After “hitting the rides we were walking and we saw the camel laying up against the gate. We thought it would be funny to go up and touch it and see if it would move,” he said.

He said he “tapped it — I didn’t hit it or slap it. It stood up and looked at me and I jumped back.”

Later, he said, he was approached by security officers. He said he grew scared during questioning when officials said witnesses had seen him “punch” and “hit” the camel.

He panicked, he said, when talk of prison time was discussed. That’s when he saw his two friends in a car on the other side of the gate.

“I thought, this is my opportunity to get away, this is really bad,” he said. “I ran and jumped over the fence.”

Allen appeared in a Vallejo court Tuesday and his public defender pleaded him not guilty on both counts, he said. His next court date is June 3.

Thatcher was arrested on suspicion of felony conspiracy to commit a crime, misdemeanor cruelty to animals and misdemeanor obstruction of an officer, Vallejo police said.

Allen has been looking for a job in mechanics, but is currently unemployed.

“Pretty much I’m good with my hands,” he said, without a trace of irony. “I like repairing things like appliances.”

He doesn’t plan to go back to Six Flags, he said, but he is thinking about writing an apology letter to the park. “I made a mistake,” he said. “I shouldn’t have done it.”

Chan said the camel, a 1-year-old named Dakar, was “mildly upset” about having his personal space invaded.

Educational guides will be stationed at the camel area when the park opens again this weekend. It will be open daily beginning May 23.