Wired McCain sign shocks 9-year-old

CHAPEL HILL, N.C., Nov. 1 (UPI) -- Orange County, N.C., police said they do not plan to file charges after a 9-year-old attempting to uproot a wired McCain-Palin yard sign got an electric shock.

Shawn Turschak said he hooked the sign in the corner of his yard up to the power source of an electric pet fence and installed a camera after two signs supporting Republican presidential nominee John McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin disappeared from his property, The State (Columbia, S.C.) reported Friday.

The camera recorded the 9-year-old neighbor, the son of Andrew Noble and Johanna Gisladottir, approaching Turschak's yard sign Tuesday afternoon with a sign supporting Democratic nominee Barack Obama, only to run off after receiving an electric shock from the McCain-Palin sign.

Gisladottir said the sign was in a portion of Turschak's yard that many in the neighborhood believed belonged to the subdivision.

"I don't know what his intention was when he ran out, or I would not have allowed him to leave," Gisladottir said Tuesday. "I honestly don't think he had a concrete plan."

Sheriff Lindy Pendergrass said he does not plan to file charges in the case after Capt. James Nida of the Sheriff's Department spoke with both families Wednesday.

Turschak said his camera recorded a woman stealing the sign shortly after he de-electrified it Wednesday afternoon.