Charles Joseph Bohlender, Jr.

Topeka Police Department — Topeka, KS

Accident

End of Watch June 13, 2000

Age 33

Tour of Duty 9 yrs

The Vigil Panel 147 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Department 9

Incident

Police Officer Charles "Joey" Bohlender and Police Officer Jeff Howey were killed when their helicopter crashed while they were assisting ground officers during a burglary alarm at the Lowe's Home Improvement store, in west Topeka, shortly after midnight.

As the ground officers were inside searching the building, Officer Bohlender, the flight observer, and Officer Howey were circling overhead when the helicopter suddenly went into a spiral and crashed into an adjacent field, bursting into flames. The helicopter, a 1994 Schweizer 300 C, had approximately 5,600 hours of flying time.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-KS-56258304
Stewardship: Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw: April 2, 2026
Last updated: July 23, 2026

Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.

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Tributes

I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Police Officer Bohlender gave the Topeka Police Department 9 years.
Thank you for your service to the Topeka community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Police Officer Bohlender.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department Topeka Police Department

Location Topeka, KS

Platform Identity tpd.shawnee.ks.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch June 13, 2000

Tour of Duty 9 yrs

Age 33

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Police Officer Charles Joseph Bohlender, Jr. is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In KS, 66 of 335 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 19.7% of this state's fallen. That is 11.3 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.

At Topeka Police Department, 3 of 10 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 30% of this agency's fallen.

Topeka Police Department

of 10 officers

30% Accident

KS — Statewide

of 335 officers

19.7% Accident

Nationwide

10,088

of 32,508 officers

31% Accident