Salem Police Officers Shoot Fleeing Suspect In Overnight Chase

SALEM, MA — A Peabody man was ordered held without bail in Salem District Court after being shot by Salem police as he tried to flee during an early-morning chase Wednesday. Austin Boga, 25, of Peabody, was charged with assault and battery with dangerous weapon, assault with a deadly weapon, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, failure to stop for police, and other motor vehicle violations.

Boga has a lengthy criminal record. Among his past arrests:

• In June, 2017, he was charged with assault and battery causing serious bodily injury and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon after sucker punching a bouncer outside O'Neill's Pub on Washington Street in Salem. The bouncer sustained serious injuries.
• In March, Peabody police arrested Boga on a disorderly conduct charge.
• In 2014, Boga was arrested after Peabody police responded to a complaint of a person driving more than 90 mph on Bartholomew Street. He was charged with speeding, operating to endanger and failure to stop for police.

Police were responding to a report of suspicious activity at Shetland Park around 1 a.m. Wednesday. When police officer approached Boga's car, he tried to run them down. The police officers, who were treated for minor injuries sustained when they got out of the way of the oncoming car, fired at Boga's car. One of the bullets grazed Boga's arm, police said.

Boga crashed the car into a parked car on Peabody Street and then fled on foot through a parking lot of a Wendy's restaurant on Congress Street. He jumped into the South River at the nearby Harbor Walk park, where police fished him out and arrested him.

Boga was treated for non-life threatening injuries at North Shore Medical Center. The officers, who were also treated and released from the hospital, were placed on mandatory leave, as is required after an officer-involved shooting.