The Coos County District Attorney’s office’s Major Crime Team is investigating an arrest by officers from the Coquille Police Department, which led to a Coquille man being hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.

According to a press release from the District Attorney’s office, at about 9 a.m. on Saturday, two officers from the Coquille Police Department attemped to arrest 57-year-old Carl T. Foster, of Coquille, on charges of menacing and criminal mischief stemming from a report involving a cracked windshield the previous day.

This morning, Coquille Police Chief Michael Reeves confirmed it was officers James Bryant and Chris Webley who went to a house being renovated at 340 N. Dean St. where Foster was working. Bryant is a six-year veteran of the department, Reeves said, while Webley has been on the job for a little more than a year.

According to the DA’s press release, while the officers were attempting to arrest Foster, they tried to place him in handcuffs. The press release indicated Foster resisted, and then each officer took one of his arms and pulled him to the ground. Once he was on the ground, the two officers noticed Foster had stopped breathing and gone limp.

The takedown is a standard technique taught at the police academy, Reeves said.

After the officers called for emergency medical personnel, another Coquille officer arrived on scene and began CPR. Medics transported Foster to Coquille Valley Hospital, the release said.

Foster was taken from the Coquille hospital to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene, where he was listed in serious condition this morning.

District Attorney R. Paul Frasier was called to the hospital at around 10 a.m. Saturday, the release said. He spoke with the officers’ supervisor and the doctor treating Foster. At that time, Frasier told the supervisor he should contact another police agency to investigate the incident.

The police and Frasier initially believed Foster’s injuries were not severe. However, at about noon, the officers’ supervisor contacted Frasier and informed him Foster’s injuries were, indeed, life-threatening. At that time, Foster was determined to have had a fracture in the second cervical vertebra. He could breathe only with the aid of respirator and there were signs of paralysis.

It was then that Frasier called for a full, independent investigation by the Coos County Major Crime Team, he said in a phone interview Tuesday. The Coquille Police Department is not involved in the investigation, Frasier added.

“I don’t believe that the agency involved in the arrest should be the one investigating it,” he said.

Foster is not unknown to the Coquille Police Department. Coquille officers cited him four times in 2004 and 2005 with driving while suspended. He was arrested and convicted in June 2004 on contempt of court/violation of a restraining order. Previously, he had been arrested and convicted on charges of harassment and second-degree criminal mischief. He was arrested by Coquille Police in early 2006, and acquitted on charges of second-degree assault, first-degree attempted assault, third-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon, menacing and recklessly endangering another.  

The District Attorney’s Major Crime Team includes officers from the Coos Bay, North Bend and Myrtle Point police; the Coquille Tribal Police; Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians; an Oregon State Police trooper; and a county deputy, Frasier said.

 Webley and Bryant remain on duty during the investigation, Reeves said. Frasier said the decision to place officers on leave during this type of incident is up to the individual agency.

Reeves said he believes the investigation will clear the officers of any wrongdoing in the incident.

“It was a horrible accident,” he said.

— Staff Writers Jessica Musicar and Alexander Rich contributed to this story.