GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) – A suspect in a violent kidnapping in Oregon died Tuesday night from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after being taken into custody following an altercation with law enforcement, a police spokesman said.
Jeff Hattersley, Lt. The Grants Pass Police Department, KTVL-TV said Benjamin Obadiah Foster, 36, died in a hospital hours after his arrest in Grants Pass, Oregon.
Foster barricaded himself under a house as officers from four agencies concentrated in the area, setting up a command post and assembling a SWAT team while attempting to ensure his surrender beginning Tuesday afternoon.
Just before 8 p.m. Hattersley said the situation was resolved but did not immediately confirm whether Foster had been arrested. Police later confirmed Foster was in custody but said just over an hour later he had succumbed to his injuries.
Hattersley said authorities had received “credible information” that Foster entered the home where a woman was found unconscious, tied up and near death on January 24, The Daily Courier reported. She was hospitalized in critical condition.
When police gathered at the home where Foster was staying, some residents received a notice to take shelter at the scene, the Daily Courier reported.
Foster was spotted walking a dog in the Grants Pass area on Tuesday morning, according to a Facebook post from the Grants Pass Police Department.
Last Thursday, law enforcement searched a property in the unincorporated community of Wolf Creek, but Foster, who had lived there on the family estate, slipped away. Forested mountains surround the community, but investigators believe Foster had help getting out of the area rather than disappearing into the wilderness on his own.
Grants Pass is a city of about 40,000 in southwest Oregon off Interstate 5.
In 2019, before moving to Oregon, Foster held his then-girlfriend captive in her Las Vegas apartment for two weeks. He was initially charged with five felonies, including assault and assault, and served decades in prison after his conviction.
Foster reached a settlement with Clark County prosecutors in August 2021 that allowed him to plead guilty to one count of assault for assault and one count of assault for domestic violence.
A judge sentenced him to up to 2 1/2 years in Nevada prison. But after counting the 729 days he spent in prison awaiting trial into his sentence, Foster had to serve less than 200 additional days in state custody.