A 42-year-old man who has had at least eight DUI convictions was sentenced Wednesday after police found him passed out in a running car with an open can of beer.
Delbert W. Foster received an 11-year sentence with all but three years suspended on a felony evading and eluding police charge, a misdemeanor refusal to take a breathalyzer test charge and a felony habitual offender charge.
Foster, a Gloucester County resident, was arrested July 28 when officers were called to Merrimac Trail in James City County for a suspicious incident.
Officers arrived to find Foster passed out in the driver’s seat of a 1990 Honda with the engine running, an open beer bottle in the passenger seat and a case of beer in the backseat, said Williamsburg-James City County Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael Gaten.
After several attempts, officers were able to wake Foster and were attempting to speak to him when he revved his engine and took off driving on Merrimac Trail, swerving between cars and driving recklessly.
The officers followed him until he ran off the road and around the back of a building. Foster than began running on foot, and officers were able to catch up with him and arrest him, police said in July.
Once in custody at the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail, Foster refused to take a breathalyzer test.
Foster told Williamsburg-James City County Circuit Court Judge Michael McGinty during his hearing Wednesday his wife usually drove him to work, but she was too sick to drive him that day.
Foster was previously convicted of multiple DUIs, probation violations and evading and eluding police charges, Gaten said.
McGinty said those prior charges and the most recent charges in Williamsburg were “aggravating circumstances.”
“Your substance abuse issue is endangering the lives of others on the road,” McGinty said. “I think members of the community would be astonished that you’re out there and still driving.”
Along with the three-year active sentence, McGinty suspended Foster’s driving privileges for three years.
Related Coverage:
