By Shelley Smith
ssmith@salisburypost.com
A Salisbury Police officer was injured while chasing two Catawba College students who ran from a large party Monday morning, a police report said.
Officer K.H. Boehm responded to assist campus security at an off-campus residence at 2113 W. Innes St. early Monday. As he arrived, Boehm saw two females run across the yard toward campus, the report said.
Boehm told the young women to stop several times, the report said, but they kept running, and he followed.
Boehm fell during the chase, injuring both knees and breaking his flashlight. Other officers arrested the women.
Bethany Marie Wall, 18, originally from Pinnacle, and Hannah Mae Wunschel, 18, originally from North Stonington, Conn., are charged with resist, delay or obstruct of a public officer, injury to personal property and purchasing or possessing alcohol by anyone under 21 years.
They were both released on a written promise to appear in court Feb. 16.
Boehm is back on active duty after being placed on administrative leave following a fatal Dec. 3 shooting. Authorities said Boehm shot Salisbury resident Robert Faulkner as they struggled behind a house on Vance Avenue where Boehm had gone to investigate a suspicious person report.
Boehm encountered Faulkner, who threatened the officer with a beer bottle, police said. After repeated commands to put down the bottle, Faulkner complied, and Boehm tried to arrest him.
But as Boehm tried to put handcuffs on him, Faulkner began to fight with the officer. Faulkner ended up on top of the Boehm and was assaulting him, police said. Boehm reached his gun and fired three shots. Faulkner was flown to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, where he died.
The SBI said Wednesday the shooting investigation is ongoing and that local agencies determine how long to keep officers who are the subjects of such investigations on leave. The Salisbury Police Department conducted its own investigation, but Police Chief Rory Collins declined to answer questions about the incident Wednesday.
Contact reporter Shelley Smith at 704-797-4246.