Michael Foster

Name:
Foster, Michael Stephen

Date of Booking:
11/28/2021

Reason(s) For Booking:
Loitering and Prowling

Officer’s Narrative:
[Please note: The following is a direct transcription from the officer’s narrative report. We do not fix any spelling or grammatical errors. Any changes made by our staff are placed inside brackets. Some errors may exist.]

On 11/28/2021 at 0610hrs, I was dispatched to the Quality Inn (177 W. Athens St, Winder, GA 30680) in reference to a report of suspicious activity. I traveled to the location Code 1 and upon my arrival made contact with the complainant [WITNESS #1] and his sister, [WITNESS #2].

[WITNESS #1] and [WITNESS #2] advised me there was a suspicious male (later identified as Michael Foster) walking around the parking lot near the vehicles of other guests and looking in them and possibly trying to breaking into them. As I approached Mr Foster, he was leaning on the front drivers-side wheel well of one of the vehicles in the lot with the front of hips moving his body in an up-and-down grinding motion.

I called out to Foster and when he turned to face me, I could tell his was high on drugs. Foster’s eyes were glassy with pinpoint pupils, he was unstable on his feet, was mumbling to himself and was talking extremely fast when answering my questions. I frisked Foster for weapons and found none.

I asked Foster what he was doing in the parking lot and he stated that he was a guest at the hotel and had stepped outside for some air and to smoke a cigarette. Foster stated that he and his girlfriend had gotten into an argument and he came outside to clear his head. I asked Foster if the vehicle I found him at was his vehicle and he said that it was not, and that his vehicle was elsewhere in the lot. I asked Foster if he had been attempting to break into any of the vehicles and he stated that he was not. I asked Foster what he was doing when I walked up and he stated he came outside to smoke a cigarette. I found this odd as Foster did not smell like cigarette smoke and had no cigarettes or a lighter on his person.

As we investigated, I noticed a clear plastic corner-tied baggie containing a white-chalky substance in the parking lot near where Foster was found. I viewed security camera footage of the parking lot. In the video, Foster can be seen wandering the lot losing his balance and falling into nearby cars and using them to remain upright. Foster wanders in the vicinity of where the substance was located but cannot be seen dropping the baggie.

Based on the totality of the circumstances, I found there to be sufficient probable cause to charge Michael Stephen Foster with Loitering and Prowling (OCGA 16-11-36). While Foster was a guest at the hotel, his behavior and obvious influence of some illicit substance was unusual for law-abiding citizens and a reasonable cause for alarm regarding the safety of property in the lot. I placed Foster in handcuffs behind his back, double-locked, and checked for fit. I searched Foster incident to arrest and found no weapons, contraband, nor means of escape. I placed Foster in the back seat of my patrol car and seat-belted him into place. I transported Foster to Barrow County Jail where he was turned over to BCSO deputies. I checked my back seat prior to and after transport and found no property left by Foster.

I field-tested the substance at the police department which tested negative for the presence of cocaine or heroin. As the unknown substance was not found on Foster’s person, I am not seeking any charges related to it. The substance was placed in Temporary Evidence Locker 009 and entered into LERMS (Property Receipt #: A-23613).

[WITNESS #1] and [WITNESS #2] completed written statements documenting their observations.

STATUS UPDATE: On 11/28/2021 at 2045hrs, I procured a warrant for Loitering and Prowling OCGA 16-11-36 (Warrant #: 2021-1862MW).

Body camera #141 and vehicle camera #402 were activated during my investigation. Footage from body-cameras #115, #130, and #165 is also available.