Kidnapper who went on the lam twice jailed again
Convicted kidnapper Andrew M. Foster is being held on $50,000 after absconding from authorities for the second time.
Foster, 20, appeared in 22nd Judicial District Court last week, handcuffed and shackled, for an initial appearance on a new bail jumping charge, as well as a prosecutor’s motion to revoke the sentence from the kidnapping case.
Foster, who laughed often with other inmates before and after his case was called, denied an allegation that he had failed to charge his GPS and then left it behind when he fled to Butte to live with his father, of which he did not advise his probation officer.
Stillwater County Attorney Nancy Rohde said at the hearing that Foster’s father is also on probation, which means he would not have been given permission to live with him had he asked. Rohde also told District Judge Blair Jones that Foster had led Butte police on a pursuit when he was found in late December 2017.
KIDNAPPING CASE
In October 2017, Foster was given a 3-year deferred sentence and the chance to clear his record of the crime, despite having violated a judge’s orders prior to sentencing by going on the run and picking up another felony charge.
Rohde said she felt obligated to honor the plea agreement in place prior to Andrew Foster’s new crime due to a technicality. Specifically, the plea agreement documents signed by Rohde, Foster and Foster’s attorney inadvertently did not contain a standard paragraph that states a prosecutor can withdraw from the agreement if the defendant violates any court orders prior to being sentenced. Jones honored the plea agreement.
FIRST BAIL JUMPING CASE
In July 2017, Foster was released from the Yellowstone County Detention Facility after entering into a plea agreement on the kidnapping case. Shortly thereafter, he disappeared, failing to stay in touch with his attorney and failing to contact DOC for a presentence interview, according to documents.
Foster was arrested in the Billings area on Sept. 23, with bond on the Stillwater County warrant set at $25,000. And some point he posted that amount, but was required to be fitted with a GPS unit prior to being released from jail.
He was sentenced on the kidnapping charge in October 2017 and within a few months, Foster went on the run again, failing to stay in contact with his probation officer and failing to charge his GPS unit.
KIDNAPPING CASE
In April, Foster took command of his ex-girlfriend’s vehicle and held the woman and the couple’s infant in the locked vehicle against their will by engaging the child safety locks in the back doors. Both of the front doors were broken and could not be opened from the inside, according to court documents.
Foster committed the PFMA when he physically restrained the victim using violent force as she was attempting to escape, according to court documents.
The victim told police she had seen Foster riding his bike in downtown Billings and agreed to give him a ride to his mother’s home. She said Foster asked her for a hug and when she refused, he forced his way back into the vehicle, took her keys and cell phone and told her “that he was kidnapping her and their daughter and taking them to Mexico because there are no laws in Mexico,” according to court documents.
The victim said she made a sign that read “HELP — CALL 911” but that Foster saw it and threw it — along with her phone — out the window. She finally grabbed the steering wheel, causing Foster to drive off I-90 due to a flat tire near the Park City area.