Fall River man who threatened wife with knife, assaulted her, injured an officer and struck a vehicle, sentenced to jail

A 40-year-old Fall River man who threatened his wife with a knife, assaulted her, injured a police officer and struck a vehicle during his attempt to flee from arrest was sentenced to jail last week in Fall River District Court, Bristol County District Attorney Thomas M. Quinn III announced.

Gregory Foster pled guilty in district court to charges of Domestic Assault and Battery, Assault and Battery with a Dangerous Weapon, Resisting Arrest, Leaving the Scene of Personal Injury, Operating a Motor Vehicle with a Suspended License, Negligent Operation of a Motor Vehicle, Vandalism and two counts of Assault with a Dangerous Weapon.

Judge Franco Gobourne sentenced Foster to two-and-a-half years in the Bristol County House of Corrections with 18 months to serve, and the balance of the sentence suspended for two years. If Foster gets into more legal trouble during those two years, he could be liable to serve the entire two-and-a-half-year jail term. The judge also placed Foster on probation for an additional two years and ordered him to take part in domestic batterer’s counseling.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Danielle Madden.

On October 1, 2022, at 2:45 p.m., Fall River Police were dispatched for a domestic incident. When they arrived, the female victim and her three children all explained to officers that Foster and the victim had been in an argument when the defendant grabbed a knife from the kitchen, charged towards her and threatened her. The oldest child was forced to step in and stop him. At that point, Foster grabbed and squeezed the victim’s face, broke her glasses and pushed her down onto a box of items on the ground.

While officers were taking statements from all involved, Foster got into his car and started the engine. One of the officer’s tried to stop him and told him he was being placed under arrest. Foster immediately put the car in gear and accelerated quickly. The officer was unable to back away from the car and was forced to grab onto the car to avoid being run over. The officer was dragged on the pavement by Foster for about 15-20 feet before being able to safely let go of the car. The officer had his pants torn and was injured in the incident which led to a transport to Charlton Memorial Hospital, where he was diagnosed with a left knee sprain, and abrasions to both knees. The officer is still in therapy for his injuries.

As Foster was fleeing in the car, he hit another vehicle, which was stopped at a red light on North Main Street. Foster was ultimately stopped by police in Rhode Island and charged there with Operating Under the Influence. At the time of the incident Foster’s driver’s license was suspended.

Unfortunately, the domestic assault victim refused to cooperate with the prosecution of the case. However, both the injured officer and the driver of the other vehicle struck by Foster did appear in court for the disposition of the case and were satisfied with the outcome.

“The defendant engaged in a violent assault on his wife and then recklessly drove a motor vehicle that caused injury to a Fall River police officer and ended up with a chase into Rhode Island,” District Attorney Quinn said. “Unfortunately the victim would not cooperate with the investigation. Despite that, the defendant was held accountable for his violent and reckless conduct.”