A Coquille man remains in serious condition in a Eugene hospital this morning following an attempted arrest by officers from the Coquille Police Department.

Carl Foster underwent surgery to his neck Monday evening at Sacred Heart Medical Center, said his daughter, Kaycee Faught. The 57-year-old Foster was listed in serious condition this morning. Faught, who lives in Yakima, Wash., said her father is blinking his eyes in response to her voice.

It was at around 9 a.m. Saturday, that officers James Bryant and Chris Webley went to a home on North Dean Street to locate Foster in connection with a criminal mischief complaint the previous day. A press release from the Coos County District Attorney’s Office Tuesday indicated Foster resisted arrest and was pulled to the ground by the officers, who then noticed the man had stopped breathing and was limp.

He was taken to Coquille Valley Hospital and then life-flighted to Sacred Heart, with a fractured vertebra. Foster could not breathe without the use of a respirator and showed signs of paralysis, the press release said.  

Officers Bryant and Webley remain on duty this morning, said Coquille Police Department Chief Michael Reaves.

This morning, Reaves detailed an incident he said preceded Foster’s arrest. On Friday, Reaves said, Foster’s ex-girlfriend asked an elderly woman for help in removing items from Foster’s house. While the women were on their way, Foster pursued them in a truck on Shelley Road. Reaves said that at one point, Foster threw a coffee cup at the vehicle, before stopping his truck on the roadway and blocking the sedan. Reaves said Foster got out of the vehicle, grabbed a hammer from his truck and “wailed and wailed” on the car’s windshield.

The Coos County Major Crime Team is investigating the incident. The Crime Team comprises officers from Coos Bay, Myrtle Point and North Bend police; the Coquille Tribal Police; Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians; an Oregon State Police trooper; and a county deputy. Wednesday afternoon, District Attorney R. Paul Frasier said the team’s investigation is continuing, but there have been no new developments.