CNN
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A man accused of strangling and torturing an Oregon woman this month was taken into custody after an hours-long standoff with authorities, police said.
Law enforcement surrounded the home where Benjamin Obadiah Foster is believed to be hiding in the southwestern Oregon town of Grants Pass, and authorities were trying to get him to surrender Tuesday evening, CNN affiliate KTVL reported, citing police.
Grants Pass police announced late Tuesday that Foster — wanted by authorities for a week — was in custody. Details of how the altercation ended were not immediately released, and police said they would hold a press conference Wednesday.
CNN reached out to Grants Pass police, the Josephine County and Jefferson County sheriff’s offices, and the FBI’s Portland office.
Foster was arrested after police said Foster was spotted walking a dog in the Grants Pass area Tuesday morning.
The search for Foster began on Jan. 24 after police found a woman tied up and passed out after being severely beaten. At the house in Grants Pass, there are police. Foster fled the scene when police arrived, they said.
Grants Pass Police Chief Warren Hensman said the victim remained hospitalized in critical condition as of Sunday.
The police chief said federal, state and local authorities have been searching around the clock for Foster, who is wanted on suspicion of attempted murder, kidnapping and assault.
Prosecutors allege Foster tried to kill the woman while “deliberately torturing” her, according to an indictment obtained by CNN affiliate KDRV. The victim endured the alleged abuse for a “long time,” the police chief said.
The victim’s first friend called police and identified Foster as the suspect, Hensman said.
When officers arrived on Jan. 24, they found “an absolutely disgusting scene,” the police chief said, adding that the footage captured by detectives was “appalling.”
“I’ve seen a lot in my career, but some things stick with you, and that stays in your memory for years,” Hensman told CNN Monday.
Foster and the victim “had a prior relationship,” Hensman told CNN Monday. “This was not a random attack,” he said, without giving further details.
Investigators are still sifting through “a large amount” of evidence and the department is monitoring the flooding so far, the police chief said.
Hensman encouraged people who come into contact with Foster — whether in person or online — to call 911 immediately. Police have warned that an “extremely dangerous suspect” may be armed.
Hensman said Monday that he did not believe Foster was a “random attacker” but warned that “there is nothing to do with an individual like him.”
“Of course he is a threat to others,” the police chief said. “I think it would be a threat to anyone who would be friends with him.”
Investigators previously said Foster may have used dating apps to help him find new victims or help arrest people. Hensman declined to comment Monday on whether Foster is still active on those apps.
Foster is accused of assaulting women he was in a relationship on two separate occasions in Las Vegas, Clark County records show.
In the first case, Foster was charged with aggravated battery causing domestic violence, records show. His ex-boyfriend On Christmas Eve 2017, he tried to choke her after seeing that someone else had a message, the documents state.
He was also charged with assault, battery and kidnapping in 2019 against his then-girlfriend, according to the filing.
The victim in that case told police Foster choked her several times and kept her tied up for most of the next two weeks, according to a Las Vegas police report. When she finally managed to escape to the hospital, she had seven broken ribs, two black eyes and lacerations to her wrists and ankles, the report said.
Foster accepted plea agreements in both cases. He was sentenced to a maximum of 30 months in prison on the original charge, but was given credit for 729 days served.