NEW ORLEANS — Ben Crump, an attorney for the family of former New Orleans Saints player Glenn Foster says an independent autopsy shows Foster died by strangulation following a still murky series of events inside of an Alabama jail nearly 10 days ago.
"Glenn Foster Jr.'s death, while in the Pickens County Sheriff's custody and care, was not from natural causes as the independent autopsy suggests there was some evidence of neck compressions and strangulation," said part of the statement from Crump.
"As we continue to investigate the case, we are learning that Mr. Foster's death in Pickens County appears to be part of a disturbing trend of Black men dying while in the custody of the Pickens County Sheriff's Office."
Pickens County Sheriff Todd Hall said he hasn't seen or heard about any results from the case other than that he has encouraged those results be sent to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency's State Bureau of Investigation.
Foster, who was balancing a decade-old bipolar diagnosis, was arrested following a high-speed chase between Reform and Gordo, Alabama, that ended in a crash and "minor tussle" with officers. He was originally booked on charges of reckless endangerment and resisting arrest by "attempt to elude."
Reform Police Chief Richard Black said he was concerned about Foster's erratic behavior and spoke at length with Foster's family to make arrangements to bail him out of jail and send him to a hospital in Birmingham for evaluation.
Black said he and Foster's family arrived at the jail a day after the arrest, and the hospital was prepared to admit Foster. But while they were waiting in the sallyport to get Foster, "something happened," Black said.
“We went to bond him out and something happened at the jail and they wouldn’t let us get him,” Black said. “I really don’t know medically what was going on, but based on what I learned, it was not normal.”
Foster's father, Glenn Foster Sr., said he noticed an ambulance arrive at the jail. When he asked if the ambulance was for his son, he said he was told it was there because Foster Jr. fought with another detainee and two guards.
Jail records show that after the bail was paid on the traffic misdemeanors, the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office re-booked Foster on three felony counts of assault and one of third-degree battery. The jail was holding him without bail on those additional charges when the situation worsened.
Black said the involvement of his officers had ended by then, and he couldn’t comment further. But Foster Sr. said Black told him that the chief followed deputies as they drove his son in a patrol cruiser, rather than an ambulance, to a hospital about a half-hour away from the jail instead of the Birmingham facility.
Crump said Foster Jr. was found unresponsive in the back of a police cruiser when it arrived at the medical facility.
In court documents obtained by WWL-TV last week, authorities wrote that Foster allegedly attacked a sleeping inmate, David Wells, inside the jail while trying to steal Wells' socks.
"Wells was asleep and Foster stood over him attempting to steal his socks before repeatedly striking Wells to the chest, rib cage, and abdomen area," the court document said.
It adds that Wells had to be taken to a hospital for treatment for bone bruises and chest swelling due to the attack.
A second document says that "shortly after assaulting another inmate" Foster then allegedly got into a fight with a deputy and correction officer trying to handcuff him, causing the deputy to get a cut to his nose and left hand.
The allegations led the sheriff’s office to re-book Foster on three counts of assault and one count of third-degree robbery, jail records show. The documents do not mention what happened to Foster or if he was injured during or after the alleged altercations.
Foster's family is still seeking more information on what went on inside of the jail that led to his death.
"What happened to him physically, whether was he beat by inmates, was he beat by prison staff, or a share of police?" Foster Sr. said. "Was there any altercations inside the vehicle he was in when he was transported to the medical facility?"
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