President Bush's top adviser on domestic policy has been arrested for swindling department stores out of more than $5,000

Ian Urbina:

The arrest on theft charges of Claude A. Allen, who until recently was President Bush's top adviser on domestic policy, was an apparent fall from power that surprised and mystified his friends and former colleagues.

Mr. Allen, who resigned from his post as an adviser to Mr. Bush last month, was arrested on Thursday in Montgomery County, Md., where the police said he had swindled department stores out of more than $5,000 during the last year in a refund scheme.

On Saturday, neighbors and members of his church expressed confidence that he would be exonerated.

"I simply don't believe it," said the Rev. Joshua Harris of the Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Md., where Mr. Allen and his family are active members. "I think if we let the whole situation clear, the truth is going to come out about this."

The police accused Mr. Allen of going to stores on more than 25 occasions and buying items, taking them to his car and then returning to the store with his receipt. He would then pick up the same items he had just bought and return them for a refund, the police said. The incidents were said to have occurred while Mr. Allen was still in his job as Mr. Bush's domestic policy adviser.

Through his lawyer, Mr. Allen denied the charges, saying there was a mix-up concerning his credit card.

Ava Rashford, a neighbor and fellow member of the Covenant Life Church, said: "There are no secrets in our church, and I've known this family for years. Our church emphasizes openness about problems in our marriages or families, and if there was a problem, we would know. There wasn't with this family."

Mr. Bush said on Saturday that he was saddened by the charges against Mr. Allen. He said the information in the charges was different from the account that Mr. Allen had given to the White House.

"If the allegations are true, Claude Allen did not tell my chief of staff and legal counsel the truth, and that's deeply disappointing," Mr. Bush told journalists after a White House briefing on Iraq. "If the allegations are true, something went wrong in Claude Allen's life, and that is really sad. When I heard the story last night I was shocked. And my first reaction was one of disappointment, deep disappointment that — if it's true — that we were not fully informed."

Mr. Harris said that he met with Mr. Allen on Friday night to provide counsel and asked Mr. Allen directly about the accusations. "I asked him, is there anything you're not telling us that we should know about these claims," Mr. Harris said. "Claude said no, and we as a community stand firmly behind him."

A longtime conservative, Mr. Allen started his career working for Jesse Helms, the former Republican senator from North Carolina.

A former deputy secretary in the Department of Health and Human Services, Mr. Allen was nominated in 2003 to a federal appeals court seat, but Senate Democrats blocked him. The N.A.A.C.P. opposed the nomination on the ground that he had not supported civil rights initiatives like a holiday to honor the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

When the issue was debated in the early 1980's, Mr. Allen said that he felt anguish because he respected Dr. King but was working for Mr. Helms, who opposed the holiday.

Mr. Allen, who was appointed to his White House job last year, at the start of Mr. Bush's second term, resigned abruptly in February, citing a desire to spend more time with his family. Earning $161,000 at the time, he was one of the top-paid staff members in the White House and one of the highest-ranking African-Americans on the staff.

Mr. Allen is charged with carrying out a felony theft scheme, which can result in a 15-year prison sentence.

The Montgomery County police said they were contacted by a manager at the Target store in Gaithersburg concerning an incident on Jan. 2, in which Mr. Allen is accused of having fraudulently tried to get a refund for items he did not buy.

A police spokesman said that a subsequent investigation, including video surveillance footage, revealed that Mr. Allen had illegally received fraudulent refunds from various stores.

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