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Madera Co. jailer pleads not guilty to lying about carjacking

Brother of a top Fresno police official faces burglary charges.

By Pablo Lopez - The Fresno Bee

Thursday, Feb. 02, 2012 | 11:19 PM

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A Madera County correctional officer, who is the brother of a top Fresno police official, pleaded not guilty Thursday in Fresno County Superior Court to charges that include burglary and lying to police about being a carjacking victim.

A criminal complaint charges Patrick Henry Foster, 43, of Fresno, with burglary, making a false report, fleeing police and armed criminal action.

Clovis police arrested Foster and three others Jan. 2 after a burglary at Kohl's department store in Sierra Vista Mall.

Police said Kohl's employees called police to report three people took merchandise and drove away in a Chevrolet SUV. Officers boxed in the SUV at Villa and Alamos avenues. Three people ran from the vehicle but were soon captured. Police said Foster stayed in the SUV and initially told officers he had been carjacked.

Foster is the brother of Fresno Deputy Police Chief Keith Foster and is on paid leave from his Madera County job, said defense attorney Eric Green, who is defending Patrick Foster.

Green said his client is innocent because he was just giving a ride to the three other people arrested in the case.

"He didn't know what they were going to do," said Green, who described the incident as a "shoplifting case" -- not burglary.

Jeffrey Allen Wilson, 28, and Heather Marie Howard, 26, both of Fresno, have already pleaded no contest to burglary, court records show.

They are scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 7. Until then, they are being held without bail in the Fresno County Jail.

Henry James Canty, 30, of Fresno, pleaded not guilty Thursday to burglary and resisting arrest.

Canty and Foster, who was put on paid administrative leave following his arrest, have been released from the jail because of overcrowding. Their next court date is Feb. 21.


The reporter can be reached at plopez@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6434.

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