Man arrested on charge of punching Charleston police officer

A 33-year-old man was arrested Saturday on charges that he punched a Charleston police officer investigating a complaint of people drinking in Marion Square, according to an incident report.

Christopher David Browder, 33, of Meeting Street faces two counts of assaulting a police officer.

Officers from the Charleston Police Department responded to the park around 3:50 p.m. Saturday after an off-duty officer reported seeing four people drinking there.

The police found 31-year-old Charlene Oberholtzer sitting on a park bench with a bottle of E&J Brandy, according to the report. A few ounces of liquor remained in the bottle, which was confiscated.

Oberholtzer, a roommate of Browder’s, was ticketed for drinking in public.

As the police wrote a citation for Oberholtzer, Browder was walking from a Circle K store across the street back toward the park.

When officers asked to speak with him, Browder “suddenly swung a punch at Officer (Cameron) Woody, striking him in the left side of his forehead,” the report states.

Browder continued to fight as other officers joined the struggle, according to the report. Another officer eventually joined and used her stun gun to shock the man into submission.

Paramedics tended to Browder at the scene, and he was later taken to jail.

Reach Andrew Knapp at 937-5414 or twitter.com/offlede.