An Alaska city reinstates its police chief after felony assault charge is dropped

KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska police chief is back to work after a felony assault charge was dropped and he was cleared in an internal investigation. Ketchikan Police Chief Jeffrey Walls returned to work last week. He was charged by a grand jury in December for assault stemming from an incident in which an intoxicated man kept bumping into Walls and his wife at a resort. The indictment alleged Walls pushed the man head-first into a stone wall and put him in a chokehold. A judge dropped the felony charge, saying the state prosecutor gave the grand jury erroneous instructions. Five misdemeanor counts remain.