02/26/2008

Associated Press

A Coos County grand jury cleared two Coquille police officers involved in an arrest that left a suspect paralyzed from the neck down.

District Attorney Paul Frasier said Monday that six of seven jurors voted to clear officers Chris Webley and James Bryant.

Carl Foster, 57, suffered a broken neck while allegedly resisting arrest last month. Investigators concluded the officers had probable cause to arrest Foster, and used an accepted method to take him down.

Frasier said that when Foster fell to the ground, his chest and chin struck the ground hard enough to hyper-extend his neck, and a doctor at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene determined that Foster had a pre-existing degenerative condition.

"Because the vertebrae in question was 'holey,' like 'Swiss cheese,' the amount of force needed to cause this type of injury was reduced," Frasier said in a news release.

Officers were trying to arrest Foster because of his behavior following the breakup of his relationship with Julie Tabernig of Coquille.

According to Frasier, Tabernig asked neighbor Lucille Phillips, 80, to drive her to Foster's trailer to get her belongings, at which point Foster arrived in a pickup and tried to get the pair to pull over.

Foster continued to follow Tabernig and her neighbor and tossed a coffee cup at the car. Foster then passed Phillips and blocked both lanes of the road, forcing Phillips to stop.

He tried to get Tabernig out of the car, which was locked, before heading back to his truck to grab a hammer, which he used to damage Phillips' windshield.

Foster then left, Frasier said. Later that day, Phillips called the police, who interviewed Tabernig.

The officers found Foster the next day, but he refused to answer questions about what had happened, Frasier said.

The police told him he was under arrest, at which point he turned to leave. Webley ordered Foster to put his hands behind his back, then grabbed Foster's right forearm and upper arm.

Foster rocked back onto his feet to resist, Frasier said, then swung at Webley, who spun Foster around in an attempt to take him to the ground.

After realizing Foster was injured, the officers tried to clear his airway by removing his dentures, Frasier said, and tried two abdominal thrusts to remove any blockage, with no results.

An ambulance arrived and took Foster to the hospital.

Foster's daughter, Kaycee Faught, said Monday she was disappointed with the decision. She said doctors expect her father to be paralyzed for life.