Former defensive lineman for the New Orleans Saints Glenn Foster Jr., 31, died Monday while in police custody after being booked and arrested in Alabama the day before. The Pickens County Coroner's Office confirmed his death to several media outlets, although his cause of death remains uncertain while they await an autopsy.
Foster was arrested on Sunday by Reform Police in Alabama on charges of reckless endangerment and resisting arrest by attempting to elude authorities. The charges were modified to three counts of simple assault and one count of third-degree robbery, according to 4WWL, a CBS affiliate in New Orleans.
Glenn Foster Jr., a former defensive lineman for the New Orleans Saints between 2013 and 2015, died this week after being arrested in Alabama, on three charges of reckless endangerment, as well as individual charges of resisting arrest and attempting to elude.???? pic.twitter.com/Z2y9xxlY9l
— Sumner (@diamondlass99) December 7, 2021
“We went to bond him out and something happened at the jail and they wouldn’t let us get him. I really don’t know medically what was going on, but based on what I learned, it was not normal,” Police Chief Richard Black said, according to WBRZ 2.
Foster's parents place full responsibility on the Pickens County Sheriff's Office, accusing the department of withholding necessary medical treatment to their son while he was in jail.
“We asked them for him to have medical treatment and they denied him for two days. I told them he has not eaten or [had] water and his organs could shut down, and they didn’t seem concerned," Foster's mother, Sabrina Foster, told The Daily Beast.
While in custody, Glenn was booked for a second time for a fight with another detained individual and two jail guards. He faced additional charges that included three counts of simple assault and one count of third-degree battery. The jail decided to hold Glenn and withdrew bail based on the new charges as his condition deteriorated on Monday, according to WBRZ 2.
A judge made the decision to have Glenn taken to a mental health treatment facility on Monday, The Daily Beast reports.
He was transported to a nearby medical facility in a police cruiser, according to his family. Upon arrival, he was pronounced dead, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said in a statement, CNN reports.
“They said … once he was stabilized, we would visit our son and go back to normal. However, normal never occurred,” his father, Glenn Foster Sr. said, according to WBRZ 2.
Glenn Foster Jr., an undrafted free agent, was recruited by the Saints in 2012. He was the owner of a granite countertop business that had affiliate stores in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
The Pickens County Sheriff's Office is directing all questions regarding Glenn's arrest to the Alabama State Bureau of Investigation. The organization is investigating the situation as an "in-custody death."
“All the good things that he did, it looks like the county sheriff is doing things to assassinate my son’s character — in addition to assassinating him because they never let him get the medical help that any human being deserves," Glenn Sr. said, according to The Washington Post. "My son, instead of being dead in a morgue, should have been in a mental facility where they could have treated his mental illness. Now the fruit has fallen from the tree. Once it’s on the ground you can’t put it back. That’s what they’ve done. They snatched the life of my son."