Reached by phone on Wednesday, Glenn Foster Sr. said that he last spoke to his son by phone on Friday, the day before Foster Jr. was arrested in western Alabama. The 31-year-old died Monday at a medical facility north of Tuscaloosa, according to a statement from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA), which is now investigating the incident.
In their conversation, Foster Sr. said his son was being “uncooperative” and “not being reasonable.” He did not elaborate on what Foster Jr. was being uncooperative about.
“You could tell he was not his normal self,” Foster Sr. said, telling CNN that his son was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and previously had a manic episode during college.
“He was in mental distress. We could see he was not in the best frame of mind, and we indicated that to the police chief,” Foster Sr. said about his conversation with Reform, Alabama, Police Chief Richard Black over the weekend.
Jail records from Pickens County show that Foster was booked Saturday on three counts of reckless endangerment, resisting arrest and attempt to elude.
Foster’s family was informed of his arrest Saturday and they told Black about his mental health struggles, Foster Sr. told the Post.
Foster Sr. said the family arrived at the jail on December 5 to transport their son with a police escort to Alabama Birmingham Medical Center to seek medical treatment.
But when they arrived they were told Foster had been involved in an “altercation” with another inmate and was placed under the jurisdiction of the sheriff’s office, the Post reported.
He was released at 3:14 p.m. on Sunday and re-booked two minutes later, jail records show, on three counts of simple assault and one count of third-degree robbery.
The family was told they couldn’t visit Foster due to Covid-19 restrictions, according to the Post.
“The sheriff, after the altercation in jail, said he’s not going anywhere,” Foster Sr. told CNN. “I think my son would be alive today if he had received the treatment he needed.”
CNN reached out to the sheriff’s office for comment but has not heard back.
Arrangements were made for Foster to be taken to another facility Monday, Foster Sr. said, and the sheriff’s office, which was in charge of transporting Foster, told the family he got into the cruiser without incident.
But when he arrived at the medical facility, Foster was unresponsive and couldn’t be revived, the Post reported.
“He arrived to his death,” Foster Sr. told the newspaper. “I don’t know what happened with him physically while he was in the jail because they wouldn’t let us see him.”
‘We haven’t been told anything’
Foster Sr. says the family has not been informed regarding Foster Jr.’s cause of death, but has been told by police an autopsy has been performed.
“We haven’t been told anything. I don’t know if they beat my son to death or what? Did he succumb to his injuries or something? We just have no idea because [the sheriff’s office] aren’t saying anything,” Foster Sr. told CNN.
The ALEA has not released additional information on the circumstances of Foster’s death, but the agency did say in a statement his body was released to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences.
Cause of death not released
The Pickens County coroner declined to disclose the cause of death when asked on Wednesday.
“We are referring all questions and comments to (the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency,)” Coroner Chad Harless told CNN when reached by phone.
According to an ALEA news release on Tuesday, Foster died Monday at a medical facility in Northport. ALEA Trooper Senior Reginal King told CNN by phone “there is still no cause of death.”
The statement said, “nothing further is available as the investigation is ongoing. Once complete, the findings will be turned over to the Tuscaloosa County District Attorney’s Office.”
This is an ongoing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.