Automobile Accident and Suspected Theft
Sharon Pierce, a fourth year undergraduate student attending Elizabeth Mount College , was struck by a 2004 Ford Taurus, while walking 15 feet north of the crosswalk, leaving her residence of Collins Hall at 8:25 a.m. on Sept. 14.
The driver of the vehicle, Carl Klaushammer, had just picked up a package from the EMC chemistry department and was turning around the east entrance of the Alumni Hall Gallery when Pierce was hit. A first hand witness to the incident, Chief of EMC Security, Robert Chase, reported that a package was taken from the backseat of Klaushammer’s car while he exited the vehicle to check on Pierce.
One of the officers at the scene reported having seen a man running south along College Drive. The man was described as being about 6 feet tall, weighing about 200 pounds and wearing an EMC hoodie. Police began to pursue the suspect, but lost the man in a foot race in a wooded area behind the Chemistry Quad. According to a professor from the chemistry department, the package contained materials that were in route to the Pennsylvania State Museum of Antiquities.
An ambulance was called to the scene of the accident. Pierce was promptly treated on site, having declined transport.
According to Chief Chase, no charges have been filed by any of the parties involved.