Photo: GRANTS PASS POLICE DEPARTMENT / Courtesy
The suspect in a violent kidnapping in Oregon died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound Tuesday night after being taken into custody following a confrontation with officersa police spokesman said.
Grants Pass Police Department Lt. Jeff Hattersley told KTVL-TV that Benjamin Obadiah Foster, 36, died at a hospital hours after being taken into custody in Grants Pass, Oregon.
Foster barricaded himself under a house as officers from four agencies massed in the area.were establishing a command post and forming a SWAT team as they tried to secure their surrender beginning Tuesday afternoon.
Just before 8 p.m., Hattersley said the situation had been resolved, but he did not immediately confirm whether Foster had been arrested.
Police later confirmed that Foster was in custody, but just over an hour later said he had succumbed to his injuries.
Hattersley said authorities received “credible information” that Foster had entered the house where a woman was found unconscious, tied up and near death on January 24, iThe Daily Courier reported.
She was hospitalized in critical condition.
When police went to the house where Foster was staying, some area residents received a shelter-in-place notice, the Daily Courier reported.
Last Thursday, police raided a property in the unincorporated community of Wolf Creek, but Foster, who had been staying at a family property there, managed to escape.
Forested mountains surround the community, but researchers believe that instead of disappearing into the wild, Foster was helped to get out of the area.
Authorities said Foster had entered the home where they found an unconscious woman.
Grants Pass is a city of about 40,000 in southwestern Oregon off Interstate 5.
In 2019, before moving to Oregon, Foster held his then-girlfriend captive inside his Las Vegas apartment for two weeks.
He was initially charged with five felony counts, including assault and battery, and faced decades in prison upon conviction.
Foster reached a plea agreement with Clark County prosecutors in August 2021 that allowed him to plead guilty to felony assault and misdemeanor domestic violence. A judge sentenced him to up to 2 years and 6 months in a Nevada prison. But the 729 days he spent in jail awaiting trial were included in his sentence, so Foster had to serve fewer than 200 additional days in state custody.
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