Local

Cookie argument leads to Lower Burrell father shooting son in self-defense

GREENSBURG, Pa. — A New Kensington man was ordered Tuesday to stand trial for assault and other charges that led to his father shooting him in the leg in apparent self-defense.

Christopher Scott Allias, 35, of Kimball Avenue was charged with four counts of simple assault, one count of making terroristic threats and one count of defiant trespass for incidents on Feb. 9 and 10.

Allias, who is in the Westmoreland County jail in lieu of bond, pleaded not guilty to the charges during a preliminary hearing before District Judge Cheryl Peck Yakopec in Allegheny Township.

The chain of events began when Allias and his then- live-in girlfriend Teddilee Sweeney got into an argument in their home Feb. 9 over cookies, Sweeney testified at the hearing.

There were no cookies left in the morning and Allias was upset, Sweeney said.

“Seriously — you're going to flip out over a cookie?” she recalled saying.

The argument escalated and, according to Sweeney, Allias threw a bottle of lotion against a wall, not aiming at anyone.

Then he threw a small, glass votive candle at Sweeney, she testified.

Sweeney testified that Allias did not make threats and that she did not feel threatened by him.

Nonetheless, Sweeney gathered her two children and left, returning the next day escorted by a constable to remove her possessions.

Christopher Allias' father, George, testified about what he says happened next.

Christopher called his father and told him that he didn't want to let Sweeney and the constable in the Kimball Avenue house, which George Allias owns.

“He argued over the phone,” George Allias said. “He's very mouthy.

“I told him to let her get her stuff so she could get out.”

The elder Allias went to his son's residence and the two men argued. They shoved each other and his son grabbed his throat several times.

George Allias said that he went outside and called police. New Kensington police arrived but neither man wanted to press charges.

Allias left and George Allias drove back to his own home in Lower Burrell.

There, the elder Allias found his son arguing with his wife, Sue.

The father ordered his son to leave, but he refused. They continued to argue and shove each other.

George Allias testified that he struck his son in the shoulder with a wrench.

Sue Allias tried to break the two men up but her son pushed her aside, according to the elder Allias.

The elder Alliases tried to call police but their son took their cell phones out of their hands and threw them about the house.

The son followed the elder Allias to the bedroom and allegedly said, “What are you going to do — shoot me?”

And the elder Allias testified that he shot his son in the leg. The father went to a neighbor's house to call an ambulance.

George Allias is not charged in the case.

Yakopec ordered Christopher Allias not to have any contact with his father or others associated with the charges.

This article was written by Channel 11's news exchange partners at TribLIVE.